


The Bonds We Share

by multifandommess



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alien AU, Also I should probably tag, Also I'll tag, Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), And spoilers for up to chapter 2/the second trial, And the Good Omens & Dragon AUs are a vague in-between, Aura AU, Dragon AU, Except he's not actually Kiyondo since the two of them both exist separate from one another, For the Multiple Personality AU, Good Omens AU, Ishimaru Kiyotaka as Ishida | Kiyondo, Ishimondo Week, Ishimondo Week 2021, Just in the same body lol, Kidnapped AU, Like there's just a slight implication in one or two lines lol, M/M, Mentions of major character death in the Aura AU, Minor warning for blood/violence in the Multiple Personality AU, Multiple Personality AU, Not sure if that really needs a warning but I figured I'd mention it just in case lol, Owada Daiya Lives, Post-Relationship, Pre-Relationship, She/Her Pronouns for Fujisaki Chihiro, Since pretty much all of these are going to take place outside of canon, Since the Aura AU takes place in the canonverse, Slight warning for blood/injuries for the Alien AU prompt, So those could be read as either lol, Vague allusions to violence & torture in the Kidnapped AU, Warning for Taka's father being a jerk in the Dragon AU, and, for the Alien AU prompt at least since he's mentioned there, for the Alien/Multiple Personality/Shrinking/Aura AUs, for the Kidnapped AU, shrinking au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28562358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandommess/pseuds/multifandommess
Summary: The universe may say that they’re the two most unlikely people to share a connection, but that doesn’t stop them from finding their way to each other’s sides time and time again.(A collection of 7 separate one-shots)
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 22
Kudos: 74





	1. Day One: Good Omens AU

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve never written anything Danganronpa in my life but my god has this series just come out of nowhere and hit me over the head with hyperfixation asdkfj so here I am! I only just found out that Ishimondo week was today, so I figured I’d just jump right in and see if I can get this whole week out in time, but we’ll see how well that works out lmao;;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _slides in and slam dunks this chapter onto AO3_ Made it in time for day 1 with like three hours to spare lmao;;
> 
> My day 1 prompt is a [Good Omens AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/186227157910/good-omens-au), which is great because I love Good Omens and I think Aziraphale!Ishimaru and Crowley!Mondo is absolutely perfect ;u; Still, this is the first time I've ever written either of them so I apologize if anything feels awkward or ooc sldfjk I did my best;;

There weren’t a lot of things that could make Taka well and truly angry--that was something that Mondo learned after many,  _ many _ years of crossing paths with the straight-laced, righteous angel. He could get passionate, sure, but there was always a driving force of sheer  _ goodness _ behind every loud word and every extreme gesture, one that would make a demon like Mondo sick to his stomach if he wasn’t so used to it by now.

Honestly, it was kind of endearing, in a “this guy is such a dork why is he getting so worked up over this” way. That was neither here nor there, though.

His point was, the angel known as Kiyotaka--Taka for short to a select few, and "bro" to Mondo (and _only_ Mondo)--was not the type of person to get sincerely  _ angry _ with anyone. He would cry, he would yell, but he would never express the kind of burning rage that Mondo and plenty of other demons (and humans, and even angels) often experienced.

This, however, might end up being one of those extremely rare times where Taka was going to be  _ royally _ pissed at him--and honestly? That would be totally fair. Even Mondo could acknowledge that he’d fucked up big time.

“Brother!” Taka greeted him with a bright smile and an enthusiastic wave as Mondo slunk towards him, and Mondo’s guilt immediately doubled as soon as he saw his… best friend’s? Partner’s?  _ Taka’s _ good mood. “You wanted to speak with me about something?”

“Uh, yeah,” Mondo began hesitantly as he came to a stop by Taka’s side, glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s… kinda important.”

Taka’s smile faded slightly into a look of concern. “Did something happen?” he asked, his voice dropping to--well, not a  _ whisper _ , but a more normal volume, which may as well have been a whisper in Taka terms. “Are your…  _ superiors _ giving you trouble? Have they--oh no, have they learned about our meetups? Have I gotten you in trouble, brother? I’m so sorry--”

“What? Bro, no, it’s not that, I promise,” Mondo hastily reassured him. “Those idiots never even bother checking in on me, ‘s long as I send a report every now ‘n’ again.”

Taka, though clearly relieved by Mondo’s reassurances, still sported a look of confusion and slight concern as he asked, “Then what was it that you needed to speak with me about?”

“Well… remember how I mentioned Hell assigning me to deliver the Antichrist?” Mondo started off tentatively.

Taka, though clearly displeased by the reminder, gave a tentative nod. “How could I forget? I was just as against it as you were.”

“Yeah, so… I tried to argue it, but they shoved the kid onto me anyway ‘n’ told me to drop the kid off at some hospital or whatever, and-- uh, well, some stuff happened, ‘n’ I was tryin’a keep track of everything, but then things got all fucked up and, well….”

Mondo hesitated, searching for the right words through his slowly-mounting frustration, before finally blurting out, “I lost the kid!”

There was a moment of silence between them, one that made Mondo sweat nervously the longer it stretched on for--before finally, for better or worse, Taka spoke up.

“Brother… you  _ lost _ the  _ Antichrist? _ ”

Mondo grimaced. “Look, bro, it sounds worse than it is, okay? There was just-- the kid was supposed to go to one family, but there was a mix-up and I didn’t realize ‘til it was too late and--”

“ _ Brother _ ,” Taka interrupted, prompting another guilty wince from Mondo--but when he felt two hands grasping his own, he was forced to reluctantly pull his gaze up and back over to Taka, only to find that the angel didn’t seem nearly as pissed off at him as Mondo had been bracing himself for. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?! We must hurry and find the child!”

“Wait, hold up, you’re… you’re not mad?”

Taka frowned, his eyes narrowed slightly. “Of course I am! That was incredibly irresponsible of you, and now all of humanity is in danger! You know how much I love my life here on Earth, and I would hate to see all of humanity wiped out because of a careless mistake!”

“I don’t want that to happen either!” Mondo, despite knowing it was coming, couldn’t help but get the slightest bit defensive in response to Taka’s outburst. “You really think I wanna go back to that shithole down there?! How the hell would I see y--”

Mondo quickly cut himself off in embarrassment, and hastily pushed on before Taka could question what he’d been about to say.

“A-anyway, look--my point is, I just wanna fix this, and… I need your help.”

As much as it stung his pride to be asking anyone for help--to be asking an  _ angel _ for help, of all things--he knew that Taka was the only person he could rely on for this.

Or for  _ anything _ , if he was being honest: they’d been by each other’s sides, pulling each other out of danger and tough spots for  _ centuries _ now, and Mondo knew there was no one else in Hell, Heaven, or Earth that he would ever trust to have his back more than he trusted Taka.

He knew the sentiment was returned the second Taka’s face split into a wide grin, determination blazing in his heated gaze as he gave Mondo’s hands a firm squeeze.

“Of course, brother! You don’t even have to ask.”

Mondo cracked a lopsided grin in return, the tension bleeding out of his body even as he extracted his hands from Taka’s grasp. “Then c’mon, let’s head out!”

“Do you know where to search for him?” Taka questioned, his eyes narrowing as Mondo deflated slightly in sheepish embarrassment. “ _ Brother _ , please tell me you at least had some sort of plan.”

“Uh… y’mean besides my plan to ask you for help?”

Taka took a deep breath and let it out slowly, murmuring a quiet prayer under his breath that could basically be summed up as “ _ Lord give me strength _ ”, and fixed Mondo with a stern look that the demon was very familiar with: it was the “ _ you are testing the limits of my divine patience with your irresponsibility, brother _ ” look that Taka gave him every time he did something stupid (which was fairly often by Taka’s standards, considering how he frowned upon every little thing that Mondo did that was remotely demonic, despite Mondo reminding him time and time again that he was  _ literally a demon _ with a quota to fill).

“We only have a few years until Armageddon, brother, not to mention how I sincerely doubt that your superiors--or mine, for that matter--will be too pleased with us if they catch on to what we’re trying to do. We have to go about this  _ carefully _ .”

“Right, okay, that makes sense.” Mondo could definitely agree with that much--hell, this was a huge part of the reason why he wanted Taka’s help to begin with. If it was up to him, he probably would’ve gone on a wild goose chase all over Earth yelling for the Antichrist to get his goddamned ass out here until he got dragged back down to Hell and detained for trying to interfere with The Divine Plan or some bullshit like that.

Taka nodded in satisfaction, clearly pleased that he’d gotten through to Mondo and that the two of them were on the same page. “Excellent! Then let’s make haste! Where was the last place you encountered the child? And how long ago was this?”

“Uh… at the hospital that I was ordered to dump the kid in, 'bout a year or two ago?”

“We’ll begin our search there, then,” Taka replied. “They should still have some records that we can go through, if you only brought the child there within the last few years.”

“Bro, you’re the  _ best _ .” Mondo gave Taka a grin and a hearty slap on the back, completely missing the way Taka’s cheeks heated up in response as he turned and began walking. “C’mon, I’ll drive.”

“Wait-- you mean on that death trap of yours?!” Taka hastily rushed to catch up with Mondo. “I think not!”

Mondo rolled his eyes as he made his way over to his motorcycle. “C’mon bro, it’s not like you can die anyway.”

“I could be  _ discorporated! _ Do you know how much paperwork is involved in getting a new body?” Taka protested. “Not to mention the danger to the other humans on the road!”

Mondo raised an eyebrow. “Thought you liked paperwork, though?”

“Not when there’s a child to find and an Apocalypse to prevent, I don’t!”

Mondo let out a loud bark of laughter at that. “Fair point,” he replied, before snapping his fingers--and in an instant, he procured a motorcycle helmet, which he put on Taka’s head with an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lip. “That better, angel?”

Taka ignored the warmth gathering in his cheeks as he frowned up at Mondo in disapproval.

“I suppose at the bare minimum, this is acceptable… but you need one as well, brother! You’re setting a bad example for all these humans, riding around without any protective gear!”

Mondo snorted in amusement as he swung a leg over the side of his motorcycle, getting settled on the seat before smirking back at Taka. “That just means I’m doing my job then, right?  _ You’re _ the one that’s gotta set a good example here, bro, not me.”

“That’s… true,” Taka conceded sheepishly, as he hesitantly climbed onto the motorcycle behind Mondo and wrapped his arms around his waist. “But you should at least stay within the speed limiiiii _ iiitttt!!!!! _ ”

Despite the gravity of the situation and the impending end of the world as they knew it, the sound of Taka’s shouts as Mondo took off down the road full-speed pulled a stream of laughter from the demon, who swerved around traffic with ease--and for the cars and people that didn’t get out of his way fast enough, Mondo just took care of them with a bit of quick magic, clearing a path for him and Taka to cruise down towards their destination.

They couldn’t afford to be held up by traffic: they had an Antichrist to find and an Apocalypse to prevent, after all.

(Plus, Mondo admitted to himself with a flustered yet mischievous grin, the faster he drove, the more tightly Taka clung to him. Honestly, it was a win-win situation all around.)

(Maybe losing track of the Antichrist had some perks, after all--even if he was sure Taka would be giving him an earful over it for a long,  _ long _ time.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note that I couldn't find a good place to fit into the fic itself: my excuse for Ishimaru going along with the "brother/bro" thing in this AU is, in angel!Ishimaru's words, "We are all Her sons, even those that strayed from Her righteous path! You are just as much a brother to me as any angel!" (or something like that lmao)


	2. Day Two: Alien AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is an [Alien AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/175533217490/alien-au)! ~~Me, looking at the prompt, looking at Robin & Starfire: this sounds familiar lmao~~
> 
> Looking at this one makes it clear why I can't write long fics, 90% of this one is just setup alsdfkj so I apologize in advance if it doesn't feel interesting, by the time I actually reached Kiyotaka's part I was pretty burnt out from writing yesterday and today's prompts in one sitting lmao;; I hope it's at least somewhat enjoyable regardless, though ;u;

Mondo knew this was a bad idea.

Hell if that was going to stop him, though.

It wasn’t like he was a stranger to loud noises in the middle of the night: being the second-in-command of the biggest biker gang in all of Japan meant dealing with lots of assholes from rival gangs launching sneak attacks at the most ridiculous hours, whether he was spending the night out with his gang or at home with his brother. So he wasn’t scared, or even startled, when he heard a loud  **_bang_ ** just outside his house at--he blearily checked his phone for the time--3:28 in the goddamned morning.

If anything, he was just pissed off and annoyed to have his first peaceful night off in what felt like forever ruined.

Now, normally he would’ve just waited a few minutes to make sure no one was trying to break into his house or smash his windows before rolling over and going back to sleep, but  _ also _ he would normally have Daiya around to talk some sense into him and make him stay in bed so he wouldn’t go charging out of the house in a blind rage to bring the fight to whatever asshole was disturbing their sleep.

Daiya was out with the gang tonight, though, meaning there was no one to stop him from throwing on his jacket over his boxers, putting on his shoes, and grabbing his nailed bat as he stomped out of the house and in the direction of the noise.

In retrospect, he probably should have at least contacted Daiya to let him know what was happening in case he needed backup--or at the very least, he should have gotten properly dressed before running out of the house--but by the time the thought occurred to him, he was already too far from the house to turn back and grab his phone (or his clothes), so he merely kept pushing forward, eventually catching sight of some smoke in the distance.

What the hell? Did some idiots set off a bomb or something? Shit, maybe he should go back for his phone after all.

For the first time that night, Mondo hesitated, before scowling and shaking his head.

What the hell was he thinking? If it was Daiya here instead of him, he wouldn’t have to call for anyone to come back him up.

He was just as strong as Daiya, if not stronger. He could handle whatever this was all on his own. He didn’t need any backup.

Tightening his grip on his bat, Mondo quickened his stride, making a beeline towards the smoke--

\--only to find a sight that immediately drained away his determined fury, replacing it with stunned bewilderment as he stared at the wreckage in front of him.

It was a pretty empty area that everyone treated as more of a garbage dump than a housing area, honestly, and it was pretty much uninhabited, which usually made it a good place for dumbass kids and wannabe thugs to hang out and try and cause trouble. There was no way that any of those kids made… whatever the hell  _ that thing _ was, that was laying in the middle of a crater in the ground with smoke drifting out of it.

If Mondo didn’t know better, he would say it looked like some sort of  _ spaceship _ or some other sci-fi bullshit, but… well, he might not be the smartest guy, but even  _ he _ knew that aliens didn’t  _ actually _ exist. That was all made-up Hollywood crap--but then wait, maybe this was some sort of prop? Were they shooting a movie or something?

If they were, it was one hell of a setup. It all looked so  _ real _ , from the way the thing-that-looked-like-a-spaceship was crushed and wrecked in all the right parts from what would’ve been a rough impact against the ground, to the crater that had to have taken a  _ while _ to dig to just the right depth to make it look like an actual crash.

Still, where were the cameras? Or any of the crew? Mondo had half a mind to grab whatever idiot was in charge and put the fear of god into them for making so much goddamn noise in the middle of the night while people were trying to sleep.

A sudden hissing noise combined with a door on the spaceship prop suddenly sliding open caused Mondo to jump slightly in startled shock before quickly tensing up, tightening his grip on his bat as he watched someone shakily pulling themselves up out of the wreckage.

Shit, there was actually a  _ person _ inside that thing? Were they an actor? Some sort of maintenance guy checking on the prop?

Well, whoever it was, Mondo finally had someone to direct his irritation towards.

“ _ Hey! _ ”

Mondo charged towards the guy, his steps almost as loud as his voice.

“I dunno what the fuck your deal is, but--”

As he got closer, Mondo was able to take a better look at the guy--and immediately, his gaze went to the gash running across his forehead and the dazed look in his eyes as he stumbled out of the prop.

Shit, there was no way Mondo could go off on this guy when he looked like he was barely even conscious. Maybe he hadn’t been trying to cause a ruckus, and something accidentally went wrong when he was fixing up that spaceship thing? That would make more sense than the guy intentionally making such a loud noise in the middle of the night, given his injured state.

Mondo lowered his bat--though he kept a loose grip on it just in case, better to be safe than sorry--as he cleared the rest of the distance between them.

“Fuck, man, what the hell happened to you? That’s a pretty nasty cut.”

Now that Mondo had gotten even closer, he could take a proper look at the guy’s appearance: he was dressed in some sort of suit-like outfit, that was presumably supposed to be white but was currently dirtied and smudged up; he had strikingly red eyes (contacts, maybe? Or were there really people out there with red eyes?), black hair, and what looked like…  _ pink _ blood, running down the guy’s face from the wound on his forehead.

What the hell? What normal person had  _ pink _ blood? Maybe he wasn’t injured at all, and was just getting into character with a fake cut and fake blood?

Or maybe it was just the dim lighting making the blood look pink--yeah, that had to be it, this guy looked  _ way _ too out of it to be faking it. Mondo had seen plenty of head injuries (and experienced plenty of head injuries) to tell what it looked like when someone was suffering from one, and this guy must have hit his head  _ hard _ from how he could barely even focus.

Mondo felt it was a safe enough assumption by this point that the guy wasn’t a threat, so he tossed his bat aside and went to give him a hand to help steady him.

“Dude, d’you remember your name? Or where you are?”

“...  _ isanmgo, nsemrikwa _ .”

Mondo blinked.

Well.

That… definitely didn’t sound like any sort of language Mondo had ever heard.

Shit, how hard did this guy hit his head? Maybe he should try and get him to a hospital…

“Uh… yeah, okay, whatever you said. Look, dude, you’re obviously pretty hurt, so I’m just gonna…”

Mondo tried to pull the guy along with him, only to frown in quickly-growing frustration when he refused to budge and kept looking back towards the spaceship prop.

What the hell was this guy, made of stone or something? It felt like trying to drag a cinderblock!

“Dude, stop being fucking stubborn and just come with me! I’m just tryin’a take you to a fucking hospital!”

Mondo grit his teeth as he tried to tug the guy along, growing increasingly irritated as the guy looked around with a blank, dazed look of confusion, as if Mondo wasn’t pulling him with all of the strength in his body.

Just as he was about to curse the guy out and kick his ass all the way to the nearest hospital--or better yet, just turn around and leave this concussed asshole on his own--the guy suddenly lit up with a look of realization as he turned around to properly face Mondo.

“ _ Finally _ ,” Mondo huffed out, a scowl on his face as he tried to hide how winded he was. “If you’re done staring into space then-- _ mmph!? _ ”

There were lips pressing against his lips.

_ Why _ were there lips pressing against his lips?

_ What the hell was going on?? _

By the time Mondo regained enough coherency to think to shove the strange guy off of him, he was already pulling back on his own, still looking dazed but seeming at least a touch more coherent than before.

“I… apologize,” he said, the words sounding clunky and awkward as he slowly spoke--which was good, it was good that he was speaking actual words now, Mondo tried to remind himself around his own brain frying from the  _ sudden kiss what the actual fuck _ . “My… ship? Was attacked, and I was forced to make a crash landing.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What the  _ fuck _ is going on? Why did you--” Mondo choked slightly, his face burning as he forced out, “Why did you  _ kiss me? _ ”

“‘Kiss’?” The guy had the nerve to look confused, blinking innocently up at him like he did nothing wrong--and Mondo could almost buy that he was actually sincere, except what sort of person would kiss a guy and then claim to not know what kissing is??

Mondo scowled and glared. “Yeah,  _ kiss! _ One minute you’re staring out into space ‘n’ refusing to move, and the next you’re throwing yourself at me?? What the fuck?? Who even  _ are _ you, and what the hell’s your deal?”

“Throwing? I am afraid I do not understand,” the guy replied hesitantly. “I did not ‘throw’ myself anywhere.” His expression quickly lit up as he added, “Ah, I can answer those questions! My name is  _ Katyk Rumshi _ \--ah… no, hold on….” His brows furrowed slightly as he slowly said, “I believe in your language it would be… Ki.. yo… taka? Ish… ima… ru. Yes! Kiyotaka Ishimaru. As for your last question… if you’re referring to the physical contact, I apologize for not being able to request permission first, and I truly hope I haven’t offended you in any way! You see, my people acquire linguistic knowledge through establishing physical contact between  _ rbichku _ \--mouths? Lips?” He lifted a finger up to tap his own lips pointedly as he spoke. “I hope I am getting the right meaning across…”

Mondo stared at this guy--Catik, or Kiyotaka, or whatever the hell his name was--like he had three heads, and he briefly considered backing away, at least enough to grab his bat. There was either something  _ majorly _ wrong with this guy’s head--either from the head injury or just in general--or he was on some  _ crazy _ drugs, in which case Mondo did  _ not _ want to get involved any more than he already was.

Seriously, what other explanation was there for this guy thinking that was an  _ actual spaceship _ behind him, and that you learn languages by  _ kissing people? _

“Uh… yeah, sure, totally got what you’re saying--anyway, about that… huge, bleeding cut on your forehead?”

Kiyotaka blinked, reaching a hand up to the wound in question and wincing slightly as his fingers came into contact with it (so it was definitely an actual injury, then, unless this guy was a  _ really _ good actor). “Ah, thank you for your concern. You would not happen to have any… healing supplies on you, by any chance? I would use the ones on my ship, but all of the systems are down from the crash….”

“If you mean a first aid kit, I’ve got one back home that you can use.”

Mondo wasn’t sure what in the world possessed him to say something like that, but… well, weirdo or not, and potential druggy or not, the guy was obviously seriously hurt and disoriented, and Mondo wasn’t the kind of person to just ignore someone asking him for help.

Maybe he could even dump Kiyotaka off at a hospital once he got his head injury all cleaned and wrapped up, so they could properly check the guy for a concussion or any sort of mixed up memories or whatever. Yeah, at least if Mondo did that he’d be able to sleep soundly, without feeling guilty about just abandoning this guy in the middle of nowhere.

As much as he wanted to deny it, the way Kiyotaka’s face lit up in elated relief also kind of played a small part in Mondo caving so quickly, too. Seriously, for someone who spoke so weirdly, Kiyotaka had no right looking as cute as he did--and no, he wasn’t just saying that because the guy just kissed him hardly a few minutes ago.

(Even if he was a pretty damn good kisser, Mondo’s own mind-numbing shock in the moment aside.)

“Thank you very much! I am in your debt--ah, forgive me, I forgot to ask your name!”

“It's, uh… Mondo. Mondo Oowada,” Mondo replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a hint of embarrassment in the face of Kiyotaka’s enthusiasm.

“I am in your debt, Mondo Oowada!” Kiyotaka repeated, meeting Mondo’s gaze with a bright grin. “Please, allow me to show a portion of my gratitude by transporting us to your home!”

Mondo blinked in bewildered confusion. “‘Transport’? What, you got a car or a bike around here or something?”

“I apologize, I am unsure of what these things you speak of are,” Kiyotaka replied sheepishly, before--to Mondo’s stunned and incredibly flustered shock--stepping forward to clear the distance between them and picking him up with ease, despite Mondo being clearly taller and bulkier than him.

“What the fuck are y-- _ holyshitwhatthefuck _ \--”

Mondo reflexively swung his arms around to cling to Kiyotaka, just barely stopping himself from letting out an unmanly scream as he looked down to find them both  _ floating off the ground. _

Suddenly, all of the weird shit he’d seen and experienced ever since finding that spaceship-that-might-not-actually-be-a-prop-and-might-actually-be-real-after-all-holy-shit was starting to make a bit more sense, and at the same time made no sense at all.

Aliens didn’t  _ seriously _ exist, right? But what other explanation was there for a broken spaceship inside a crater, an injured guy pulling himself out of the broken spaceship who couldn’t speak the language until he  _ kissed him _ , said guy then going on to talk about how his ship crashed and talking about “his people” and using all these weird foreign-sounding words, and now this crazy strength and  _ flying? _

All of the signs were pointing towards Mondo either being a complete, hardheaded, oblivious idiot, or him just losing his goddamned mind--the latter of which was hard to believe when he could feel the lack of ground underneath him and could  _ see _ all the way out to his house and even  _ further _ from this position up in the sky.

This was all  _ way too much _ to handle, especially in the middle of the goddamned night when all Mondo had wanted to do was ball some guys out, maybe kick an ass or two, and then go back to bed.

“Mondo Oowada? Mondo Oowada, I need to know where your--Mondo Oowada?!”

Kiyotaka’s voice began to grow more and more faint as Mondo felt his consciousness quickly slipping away from a mixture of shock and exhaustion, until only one coherent thought remained:

Daiya was going to  _ kick his ass _ when he found out about this crazy mess that Mondo had somehow gotten himself involved in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a bit lazy when it came to the language part so I basically just wrote out what Kiyotaka said in Japanese, rewrote the words backwards, and then dropped a few random vowels lol;; (So like [Ki][yo][ta][ka] -> [Ka][ta][yo][ki] -> Katyk)
> 
> Also Mondo only passed out briefly from the shock at the end lol so you can assume that he managed to get it together enough to give Kiyotaka directions back to his house, they got Kiyotaka's head wrapped up, and then Mondo had to try and come up with some sort of explanation to Daiya for why he invited a random guy over that isn't as blunt as "so I found this alien dude who crashed his spaceship in that old junkyard and needs a place to stay" (spoiler: that's basically what he says and Daiya laughs his ass off until Kiyotaka proves that he's not human, but at least Mondo doesn't feel nearly as bad about passing out in Kiyotaka's arms when he sees Daiya nearly passing out in shock too lmao)


	3. Day Three: Dragon AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is a [Dragon AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/179359572565/dragon-au)! I kind of diverged from the prompt a little bit on this one, since it took a life of its own while I was writing it lol but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless! <3

Growing up in this tower was a privilege and an honor: those were the words that Kiyotaka’s father imparted on him each and every time they spoke with one another, which was at least once per year. Maybe twice, if he was lucky and on his best behavior.

He would bring honor to their family name by performing his duties as a prince, focusing only on his studies until he was worthy of ascending the throne--or until a proper suitor came along, taking him away from this tower and joining their families and their lands in a matrimonial ceremony that would make Kiyotaka’s father (and grandfather, and all his ancestors before him) proud.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as if that would be happening any time soon. After all, if the imposing height of the tower wasn’t enough to deter any prospective suitors, the ferocious dragon guarding the tower would certainly do the job.

Not that Kiyotaka considered the dragon (who went by the name Mondo, but only in Kiyotaka’s presence)  _ dangerous _ by any means, of course. He was loud and had a violent temperament, sure, but in all the years that Kiyotaka knew him--which was essentially his entire life, or at least as far back as he could remember--Mondo was… not necessarily  _ friendly _ towards him, at least not at first, but he never actually  _ hurt _ Kiyotaka either.

Chipping through the dragon’s emotional barriers and getting him to let his guard down was an accomplishment borne of years’ worth of persistence and optimism, combined with a deep-seated loneliness that he tried valiantly to pretend wasn’t weighing him down and yet, at the same time, couldn’t help but see mirrored in the rugged yet beautiful creature guarding the tower.

After all, it was just the two of them living in this empty, uninhabited land. Even if Kiyotaka’s only conversation partner wasn’t human, it still didn’t change the fact that he was a living, breathing creature with human-level intelligence and an ability to speak the same language as him--not to mention how Mondo was able to change his form to appear more human, allowing him to sit with Kiyotaka inside the tower and properly converse eye to eye with him. It made their relationship feel that much more natural: so natural, in fact, that the more times they interacted like this, the more the two of them grew closer with one another without even realizing.

It was impossible to say when the shift happened, or where, or why or how. All Kiyotaka knew was that one day, he woke up with a smile on his face and Mondo on his mind--and soon after that, the ever-present loneliness weighing down on his chest became nothing more than a distant memory.

Still, there was one question that always lingered in the back of Kiyotaka’s mind, something that he was always hesitant to ask despite his burning curiosity, for fear of both offending Mondo and shattering the peaceful relationship that the two had developed.

As if hearing his thoughts--or more likely, because he’d grown bored of sitting outside by himself and staring out into the expanse of nothingness surrounding them--there was a sudden weight leaning against his head, signaling that Mondo had joined him in his room in the tower.

“You’re  _ still _ not tired of those things?” Mondo asked incredulously, crossing his arms on top of Kiyotaka’s head and looking over him at the textbooks spread out on his desk.

“Of course not!” Kiyotaka protested. “Father brought me these ones just a few months ago; I haven’t read through them nearly enough times yet!”

Though the scales littering Mondo’s arms dug into Kiyotaka’s scalp the slightest bit, especially with Mondo’s weight leaning against him, he made no move to push the humanoid dragon off of him--on the contrary, he found himself leaning back the slightest bit, chasing after the warmth that Mondo’s body constantly radiated.

Mondo rolled his eyes. “Dunno how you manage to keep all that shit crammed in your head. At least take a break or something, c’mon.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Kiyotaka’s lips as he let out a soft laugh. “You’re just bored, aren’t you?”

“If I say yes, are you gonna put the books down ‘n’ relax for a bit?”

Kiyotaka eyed his textbook for a moment longer as his father’s voice ran through his mind, reminding him of what would happen if he didn’t keep up with his studies--before giving in as Mondo’s arms moved off of his head and draped over his shoulders instead, providing the sort of comfort that he could never ( _would_ never) find in the pages of any of the books his father brought to him.

“I suppose taking a small break wouldn’t hurt,” he finally conceded, carefully marking his page before closing the textbook, much to Mondo’s clear delight as he gave Kiyotaka a fanged grin in response.

“That’s more like it! C’mon, come sit by the window with me ‘n’ get some sun, you’re looking way too pale.”

Kiyotaka let Mondo tug him up out of his seat and towards the comfortable arrangement of pillows and blankets that they had set up on the ledge by the window--something that Kiyotaka was always hasty to straighten up before his father’s annual visit, before setting it back up even more quickly as soon as he was gone. It was the closest Kiyotaka could get to experiencing the outside world for himself, and Mondo made sure he took full advantage of it, especially when Kiyotaka got too wrapped up in his studies and lost track of time.

The two of them got settled in on the ledge, with Kiyotaka leaning in close to Mondo’s warmth while Mondo carefully wrapped a blanket around the two of them--more for Kiyotaka’s sake than his own--before lapsing into a comfortable silence. As much as Kiyotaka loved talking with Mondo, he found that moments of silence between them like this were just as enjoyable, allowing him to relax and bask in the air of familiarity and  _ peace _ surrounding them in their own little world.

He idly traced his fingers along some of the scales on Mondo’s arm, hardly even realizing that he’d fallen back into deep thought until he felt the sharp nail of a finger gently poking his furrowed brow.

“You only make that face when you’re thinking yourself in circles,” Mondo spoke up wryly, though his expression clearly showed hints of concern beyond his amusement. “What’s on your mind?”

“Ah-- it’s… nothing, really,” Kiyotaka replied, only to grimace as Mondo scowled and poked his forehead a bit harder.

“You ‘n’ I both know you’re full ‘a shit. Now seriously, tell me what’s wrong.”

Kiyotaka averted his gaze, biting his lip nervously before finally responding, “I wanted to ask a question, but… you aren’t going to be too pleased with it--or perhaps I’m just afraid of what the answer may be.”

“Huh?” Mondo blinked in confusion. “The hell’s that supposed to mean? If you’ve got a question, then just spit it out already.”

Kiyotaka took a slow breath, steeling himself before finally asking the question he’d wanted and dreaded an answer for for so many years: “Why did you stay?”

When Mondo gave no immediate response, Kiyotaka pressed on, his body tense with nerves. “I’ve always wondered… why didn’t you just fly away from this tower? We get along well now, but before… for the first few years that I knew you, we never got along. I've seen how powerful you are myself, and it isn't as if there's anyone keeping watch of what you do when my father isn't around, so... I suppose I've always been curious what made you stay, especially back when you couldn’t stand to be around me.”

As soon as Kiyotaka finally gave voice to the questions lingering in the back of his mind for ages, he regretted his choice almost immediately: he could hear the sharp intake of breath that Mondo took, could see the way his expression darkened, could feel the way Mondo’s body tensed up….

“I’m sorry!” Kiyotaka hastily apologized, pulling away from Mondo in order to properly prostrate himself in a show of remorse--only to let out a noise of flustered surprise when Mondo just as quickly pulled him close, the dragon’s strength making it near impossible to free himself from his hold.

“No, just-- don’t apologize. I was kinda… bracing myself for this, though I was hoping you’d never bring it up,” Mondo finally replied with a guilty grimace, his gaze shifting to look everywhere but at Kiyotaka despite the lack of distance between them. “It’s… well, look, it’s complicated, alright? I’ll try my best to explain, but could’ja promise to at least… hear me out ‘til the end, before you get mad or upset or whatever?”

Though Mondo’s words didn’t exactly bode well, he still cared too much for Mondo to ever deny him anything--so despite the feeling of dread gripping his heart, he gave a nod, and forced his voice to cooperate enough to say, “Of course.”

Mondo let out a long sigh, and Kiyotaka took the slightest bit of comfort from the clear relief in Mondo’s gaze just from that one agreement.

“Thanks,” he replied, before moving his free hand up to run through his hair. “Right, okay. So. Guess I’ve gotta start at the beginning, then.”

And with that, Mondo began to tell his tale--and ineloquent and crude as his storytelling may have been, Kiyotaka found himself hanging on to every last word all the same: he spoke of a wide, open world that Kiyotaka had only ever read of in books; of a herd of dragons as close as brothers despite not being bound by blood; of the tragedy that befell his brethren, and how he was the only survivor; and--

Kiyotaka’s father.

The young prince’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as he heard his father’s name leave Mondo’s lips, both from stunned shock that his father had some sort of involvement in this story, and from the sheer  _ venom _ in Mondo’s voice as he spoke of the family member that Kiyotaka’s entire life revolved around.

The worst part, though, was that he couldn’t find it in him to reprimand Mondo, or to even be offended or upset with him--especially not as Mondo continued his story.

Apparently Kiyotaka’s father, when Kiyotaka was hardly even old enough to walk, had already planned to have him locked away in this tower, and had subjugated the weakened dragon survivor and bound him to his will. He forced Mondo to leave his fallen brethren behind without even a proper burial, and ordered him to guard this tower--and Kiyotaka--until a worthy suitor came along to “rescue” him from the “evil” dragon keeping the poor, defenseless prince locked away.

And should Kiyotaka try and escape the tower on his own…

“... he ordered me to kill you.”

Kiyotaka laughed nervously, his stomach turning and his body shaking as he looked at Mondo with wide, frantic eyes. “That’s-- that’s not true. That can’t be true, he-- my father would never--”

Mondo tightened his grip on Kiyotaka, his nails digging into the back of Kiyotaka’s shirt. “I’m sorry. I… I never wanted you to know about any of this, but… your dad’s a fucking prick, honestly. He  _ locked you up _ just to get himself some goddamn pity points, for fuck’s sake!”

“Language,” Kiyotaka admonished distractedly, his head still spinning as he tried to process everything that Mondo told him.

He’d grown up believing that living in this tower, studying and waiting for the right person to come along, was his duty. That following his father’s orders would bring honor to his family, to the line of proud royalty that stretched back throughout history.

“Why…? I don’t-- I can’t understand, why would my father…?”

Mondo pulled back enough to look Kiyotaka properly in the face, moving his hands to grip the prince’s shoulders as he spoke. “Look… I can’t say I know all that much ‘bout humans, or how any of this royalty shit works, but… there is one thing I know, that your assh-- that your  _ dad _ mentioned back when he first captured me.” He paused for a moment with a frown, trying to figure out the best way to phrase what he wanted to say, before finally settling on, “How much d’you know about your grandfather?”

Kiyotaka blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden question. “My grandfather? He was a proud man and a fine leader, but was ultimately killed in an uprising against him. All texts and tomes containing records of his achievements were lost during the revolt.”

“And who told you all ‘a that?”

“My--” Kiyotaka paused, his breath hitching and his eyes widening as realization hit him. “Are you… are you saying…?”

Mondo scowled. “Yeah. That fuckin’ scumbag lied to you. He’s been using you this whole time, makin’ you into some sort ‘a  _ prize _ to be won by whatever idiot can get up here without getting their ass handed to them by me first, all so he can build his own name and his own damn reputation back up after whatever shit happened with your grandfather.”

When Kiyotaka gave no response, clearly still in shock, Mondo pulled him into a proper hug as he continued quietly, “That’s why I just couldn’t hate you, no matter how much I wanted to--and no matter how much of an annoying uptight ass you were, at times,” he added wryly, much to Kiyotaka’s chagrin. “I wanted to be pissed off, I wanted to blame you ‘n’ say it was your fault I was stuck here, but… you’re just as trapped as I am, and it’s all 'cause of that selfish bastard.”

Kiyotaka let out a long, shuddering breath as he hugged Mondo back, tears stinging his eyes as reality began to set in.

Mondo wouldn’t lie to him. He knew Mondo wouldn’t lie to him--he  _ trusted _ Mondo.

As for whether he trusted him more than his own father, well…

It may have been wrong of him, but he knew in his heart that he did.

“I’m… sorry, that you were forced to tolerate my presence for so long--”

“Taka,  _ no _ . Dammit, this’s exactly why I wanted you to hear me out ‘til the end before you started jumpin’ to conclusions,” Mondo quickly replied, embarrassment lightly coloring his cheeks as he scowled. “My point was that we’re  _ both _ trapped here, and yeah I thought you were annoying at first, but… I guess it made me kinda… happy? That you were so persistent, tryin’a talk with me ‘n’ shit, even though I’m not human like you. So even if I’d been able to leave--even if I could leave right this second--I wouldn’t, not without you. No way I could ever leave you behind.”

Kiyotaka’s breath hitched in a relieved sob, even as guilt continued to eat away at him.

It was his father’s fault that Mondo had his freedom robbed of him, and while Mondo had been grieving the loss of his family, no less--so by extension, didn’t that also make it his fault? How could he ever properly apologize to Mondo? How could he help him?

Wait…  _ could _ he help him, somehow? If his father had been able to find a way to subjugate a dragon, then as his son, shouldn’t he be able to find a way to  _ un _ -subjugate him? Granted, his knowledge was limited to the books that his father brought to him, but maybe there was something in his library that would be of use?

“Taka? You okay?”

Kiyotaka looked up at Mondo, his resolve solidifying as he saw the concern and worry on Mondo’s face.

This was the one person in the world who well and truly cared about him. Not his father,  _ Mondo _ .

Why should he continue devoting his energy, his  _ life _ , to his father’s wishes, when he could be focusing on helping free Mondo instead?

“I… believe I am,” Kiyotaka replied, straightening up slightly in Mondo’s hold and meeting his gaze head-on as he spoke. “In fact, I would say that I’m better than okay. You’ve opened my eyes, and I realize now what I must do.”

Kiyotaka pulled away from Mondo, quickly swiping an arm across his face to dry his tears before reaching out to grasp Mondo’s hands in his own.

“I’m going to put every last ounce of myself into finding a way to free you from my father’s grasp--and as soon as I do, we will leave this place together.”

It wasn’t an easy declaration to make, not when his entire life until this point had revolved around becoming the perfect prince for his father--yet he knew in his heart that there was no better choice than this, not when he could see the glimmer of hope and awe underneath Mondo’s stunned expression.

“You… you’re serious. You really--” Mondo cut himself off as he let out a laugh, shaking his head slightly as his shock faded into warm amusement. “Actually, I dunno why I’m so surprised. You’ve always been a take-charge kind’a guy, haven’t you? Sittin’ on your ass like a damsel in distress ain’t your style.”

Kiyotaka couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re certainly right about that.”

Mondo's smile widened into a sharp grin. “So we’re really doing this then, huh? ‘Bout time--I was gettin’ real sick of this dreary old tower, anyway.” A bit more softly, yet with more trust and confidence than Kiyotaka could ever remember anyone directing at him in his life, Mondo added, “If anyone can pull something crazy like this off, it’s you. I know it.”

Kiyotaka returned Mondo's grin with one of his own, determination flaring up in his gaze as he felt Mondo’s words empowering him even further.

If Mondo believed he could do this, then come hell or high waters,  _ he would do this _ .

Surely it wouldn’t be easy, and there would be the danger of Kiyotaka’s father potentially catching on to their plan--but even just the thought of being  _ free _ to explore the world with Mondo by his side was well worth the effort, and well worth the risk.


	4. Day Four: Multiple Personality (DID) AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Me, just barely sliding under the door to get this uploaded in time: whoops;;;~~
> 
> So today's prompt is a [Multiple Personality (DID) AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/179196813790/multiple-personality-au), and as you can probably tell, it ended up diverging a bit from the prompt idea and took on a life of its own lmao;;
> 
> (Just a note, I ended up going with the name "Kiyo" instead of "Kiyondo" mainly because I just couldn't figure out a good reason why Kiyondo would take part of Mondo's name when he chose his name way before ever meeting Mondo in this AU lol)

It was difficult for Kiyotaka to remember a time when he didn’t have a second voice inside his head. The presence of another person inside of his mind--an alternate personality, some might say, though it was hard to think of the other voice as just another part of him when they both had their own separate (and often times opposing) thoughts and feelings--was something so natural, so _right_ , that Kiyotaka didn’t even think to question it aside from his initial startled surprise the first time he heard a voice in his head responding to his thoughts.

Having that other voice--Kiyo, as he decided to go by, since most people referred to Kiyotaka as simply Taka--as a constant presence in his life made Taka’s otherwise lonely existence feel almost bearable, like he had an actual friend, or even a brother.

So of course, when they first discovered that Kiyo could take control of their shared body instead of remaining a passenger as he had been for the first few years of their life, Taka was more than happy to relinquish control over to him. Kiyo was the hesitant one of the two, despite his normally brash nature, but Taka remained insistent until he finally caved--and though it was a bit alarming to have a distinct gap in his memory whenever Kiyo took control, as opposed to Kiyo’s full awareness whenever Taka was in control, it was a small price to pay for the excitement that he could feel Kiyo trying and failing to hide from him even just from the prospect of getting to freely move around and experience the world on his own.

It took a while of trial and error (only in the privacy of Taka’s bedroom, since he knew better than to so much as mention Kiyo in public by this point, lest his father punish him for it again) before the two finally worked out a balance, where Kiyo would come out for a few hours each day--or, should emergency call for it, if Taka ever lost consciousness or was in any sort of danger.

Which thankfully rarely happened, save for the occasional bully who thought they could take advantage of Taka’s kindhearted nature, only for Kiyo to come out and make them thoroughly regret their life choices.

(Which Taka wasn’t _entirely_ in approval of, though he could at least admit that sometimes discipline was necessary for people that weren’t willing to listen to reason, even if he would prefer things not escalating to physical violence. It was the closest he could come to reaching a middle ground with Kiyo, who had no qualms about settling matters with his fists instead of his words.)

And so, their shared life continued on, as normal as could be--until they arrived at Hope’s Peak Academy, and met the one person that took their life and turned it on its head:

Super High School Level Biker Gang Leader, Mondo Oowada.

* * *

Surprisingly, Taka was the first to fall for Mondo.

This was surprising because the two--initially, at least--got along like cats and dogs: Mondo was, in essence, everything that Taka stood against, and vice versa for the biker gang leader. Taka hated delinquents, and Mondo hated figures of authority. Taka followed all the rules to the letter, and Mondo went out of his way to break whatever rules he could find. They were the absolute _worst_ possible match, in every possible way.

Then Kiyo suggested that damned endurance contest to Taka, who then suggested it to Mondo, and everything spiraled from there.

Kiyo had mentioned it half-jokingly--after first offering to put the biker gang leader in his place for Taka, which Taka firmly rejected on the grounds that it would reflect poorly on him as a Super High School Level Prefect--and hadn’t expected Taka to actually go through with it, much less for _Mondo_ to go through with it. The fact that the two came out of it close enough to be calling each other “ _brother_ ” and “ _bro_ ” was beyond bewildering to both Kiyo and all the other students who knew how at odds the two usually were with one another, and Kiyo couldn’t help but feel a growing irritation towards Mondo for tricking his kindhearted other half so thoroughly that Taka was actually willing to take _Mondo’s_ side instead of Kiyo’s, when Kiyo tried to insist that he should stay away from Mondo.

That’s what this was, right? Some sort of trick? It had to be--there wasn’t any other plausible reason for Taka developing such strong, positive feelings towards someone that he could hardly stand just a few days ago.

So Kiyo decided to put him to the test. Push his buttons, see if he was just trying to get something out of Taka, figure out _what the hell his deal was_.

It wasn’t easy to wrestle control away from Taka, but the fact of the matter was that Kiyo let him have control by _choice_ , and was perfectly capable of taking control from him whenever he wanted. He wouldn’t normally do such a thing, of course, and he knew Taka would be _furious_ with him later, but… they had agreed that Kiyo would take over if Taka was ever in any danger, and Mondo was _dangerous_.

He was a threat and he needed to be dealt with, so that Kiyo and Taka could resume their normal life together, just the two of them.

(So that Taka could stop spending all his time with Mondo, stop thinking about Mondo, stop ignoring Kiyo and trying desperately to hide him away from Mondo--)

Yet when Kiyo took over and went to find Mondo, only to be met with a bright grin and a warm arm around his shoulders--

Well.

Suddenly Taka’s feelings were starting to make a hell of a lot of sense.

After all, neither of them ever had anyone in their life that was this physically affectionate with them, nor anyone besides each other that actually _enjoyed_ their company. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean that Mondo wasn’t trying to use Taka, but… even Kiyo could admit--as he spent the day with Mondo, pulling off a passable impression of Taka the whole time--that Mondo didn’t seem like the type of person to trick or use anyone.

Granted, he was still dangerous, without a doubt--he was the ultimate Biker Gang Leader for a reason, after all--but the more Kiyo thought about it, the more he found himself liking the idea of that kind of danger. What a thrill it would be, to get to ride on the back of Mondo’s motorcycle at top speed, charging head-first into fights and walking out with blood on his knuckles and a sharp, satisfied grin on his face…

But no, he knew he had to put Taka first, and Taka was afraid--now more than ever--of anyone discovering Kiyo’s existence. It wasn’t anything personal, of course: Kiyo learned that a long time ago, back when Taka had been so excited to tell anyone who would listen about his new best friend in his head.

It hadn’t ended well, once Taka’s father found out. Taka learned his lesson from that point on, as did Kiyo: the less people that knew about him, the better.

Which had been perfectly fine up until Mondo had worked his way into their life, causing a distinct divide between Kiyo, who wanted Mondo to know of his existence, and Taka, who was terrified of losing Mondo if the biker were to ever learn about Kiyo.

It was a difficult position for them both, and weighed heavily on Taka especially, who felt immensely guilty that he was taking Kiyo’s freedom away from him when he’d been the one so insistent on Kiyo having it all those years ago. What right did he have to get mad at Kiyo and tell him who he could or couldn’t come out around, especially when he’d been--to Taka’s surprise and relief--on his best behavior the whole time? He knew that Kiyo always put Taka’s wants and needs before his own, and he knew that Kiyo only ever had Taka’s best interests at heart despite how crass and lackadaisical he could be at times, so for him to be explicitly expressing a desire of his own, only for Taka to shut him down and deny his wishes…

What kind of horrible person was he, to do that to someone who’s supported him and been by his side for so long? To choose a brand new friend--potential romantic feelings and attraction aside--over someone who was such an important person of his life?

The worst part was that no matter how upset or frustrated Kiyo got with their situation, he never once blamed Taka, and always understood why Taka was so afraid and so adamant about Mondo never finding out about him. Ever since the first time he got to talk with Mondo face to face, Kiyo had eased up on pressuring Taka to stop hanging out with the biker, and instead had done a complete one-eighty and actually _encouraged_ him to spend time with his new best friend.

Though Kiyo teased Taka about his crush, Taka could say that Kiyo’s attraction to Mondo was just as obvious. It was clear that Kiyo didn’t want to be the reason why Taka lost Mondo’s friendship, even if he wanted to be with Mondo himself just as much.

So what else could they possibly do, except keep quiet about Kiyo’s existence?

* * *

Or at least, that was what they _intended_ on doing, until Taka abruptly found himself in a difficult position.

Openly being close with the infamous leader of the Crazy Diamonds had apparently painted a target on his back without neither him nor Mondo realizing--which should have been obvious in hindsight, but hindsight didn’t do Taka much good when he was already being dragged off and cornered in a back alley by a group of large, armed delinquents.

Not that Taka was _worried_ , per se. In fact, he was more annoyed and disappointed than anything.

“Have you no shame?!” Taka admonished the group with a frown. “If you have any grievances with Mondo, you should be taking them up with him directly, and without the use of force and violence! If you would like, I can act as an intermediary--”

“Shaddup, ya damn goody-two-shoes! The hell does someone with a rep like Oowada see in a boot-lickin’ piece ‘a shit like you, anyway?” One of the delinquents said, his lip curled in disgust as he spat at Taka’s feet. “Well, whatever. Let’s just rough this loser up ‘n’ use him to get Oowada out here.”

“As I said,” Taka continued with a disapproving frown, ducking under the swing of one of the delinquents’ bats and disarming him with a swift twist to his wrist before tossing him over his shoulder in one fluid movement, “you people are too quick to turn to violence as the answer to your problems! There is plenty to be gained from simply sitting down and having a civil conversation!”

**_I don’t think these guys are gonna listen to reason, Taka._ **

Taka fought back a grimace as he saw the delinquents’ expressions darkening in growing ire--apparently, they hadn’t expected him to have the skill to defend himself, and they clearly weren’t too pleased to find that their _easy prey_ wouldn’t be so easy to take down.

_Unfortunately, it seems you’re right. Would you…?_

**_You really think you’ve gotta ask?_ **

While Taka was perfectly capable of fighting on his own--he had taken plenty of judo classes for self-defense at Kiyo’s urging, something his father had been thankfully approving of if only because it was a skill that could act as a potential asset in Taka’s future--he still preferred to claim plausible deniability and let Kiyo handle things in that department, if only so that when he returned to consciousness, he wouldn’t have any violent memories to weigh him down with guilt.

He would have considered it selfish of him, if he didn’t know how much Kiyo--by contrast--loved to come out and let loose, even if it wasn’t very often that he got the opportunity to do so.

With the undercurrent of tension between them ever since Mondo had come into their life, perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, since it would allow Kiyo to blow off a bit of steam and would also (hopefully) help get rid of one potential problem for Mondo. All in all, Taka had no reason whatsoever to resist as he felt Kiyo taking over, and instead allowed himself to sink into unconsciousness.

Kiyo’s lips immediately curled up into a sharp grin as soon as he gained control, his eyes blazing as he cracked his knuckles.

“Alright, I get it. You jerks wanna go, right? Then _bring it!_ ”

If they were thrown off by the sudden change in attitude, none of them showed it--which either meant they were too dumb to notice, or too angry to care as they all charged at him at once with knives and bats in hand.

Not that it mattered either way to Kiyo. He didn’t need a weapon; he was just glad to finally have an excuse to punch someone’s face in and work out some of his frustrations.

The first thing that he noticed about these delinquents was that they _sucked_ at fighting: they had raw strength, sure, but that was about all they had going for them. They telegraphed all of their moves so clearly that even an idiot could see them coming from a mile away, and they had no idea how to adapt or react if Kiyo so much as sidestepped their attacks, let alone when he struck back against them.

One or two of them got a lucky hit on him, mainly when they moved in on him in a way that made it difficult to dodge one attack without getting at least nicked by the other--but other than that, it was almost laughably easy for Kiyo to take them down one by one until they were all laying unconscious on the floor in a scattered heap.

“Serves you asshats right,” Kiyo said with a laugh, adrenaline still pumping through him as he gave the unconscious leader of the group a kick to the side. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice about messing with Taka, jerks. Try dragging him into your stupid gang wars again and I’ll make you wish you never even laid eyes on him, got it?”

Taking the leader’s groan as an affirmation--or at least, something close enough--Kiyo nodded in satisfaction and stretched with a pleased sigh.

“Man, I really needed that.” As he became aware of a light stinging on his cheek, his grin faded into a slight grimace as he touched his fingers to his cheek and pulled them away to find blood. “Damn, Taka’s gonna kill me when he sees this… better at least patch it up before--”

He turned around, intending on leaving the alleyway--only for his voice to die in his throat and his heart to sink to the pit of his stomach as he saw Mondo standing hardly a few feet away, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

“Wh-- uh-- h-hey bro--uh, _brother!_ ” Kiyo laughed nervously, scrambling to try and compose himself and put on a passable Taka impression, even as he felt the blood draining from his face and a cold sweat running down the back of his neck. “What… what are you doing here?”

“Some of my guys mentioned seeing you get dragged off by some dipshits from another gang,” Mondo replied, the wariness in his tone making Kiyo tense up nervously. “Came to find you ‘n’ help you out, but… I, uh, guess you had things handled, huh.”

“Mondo, I can explain, I was just defending myself--” Kiyo began hastily, only to fall silent as Mondo held up a hand to stop him.

“Dude I don’t care about the whole ass-kicking thing. Hell, I thought that was pretty fuckin’ awesome, not gonna lie.” A weak yet genuine grin flashed across Mondo’s face, and despite Kiyo’s trepidation, he couldn’t help but feel a brief surge of warmth and pleased satisfaction from Mondo’s approval. “But I was watching you, and… it’s like you were a totally different person, bro--and not like you were just acting weird, but… what you just said, talking about ‘Taka’ like you’re not him, or something… what’s up with that?”

Kiyo winced.

Mondo’s question was blunt, and impossible to skirt around without either losing Mondo’s trust or potentially losing Mondo’s friendship--but maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Kiyo was _so damn tired_ of hiding his existence from Mondo, and he knew that Taka--despite his fear--was just as tired of keeping secrets from the one person outside of Kiyo that he felt close with.

If Mondo had already gotten to this point of wary confusion, and was looking for answers… then Kiyo might as well take the plunge and just tell him.

“I was talking about ‘Taka’ like I’m not him because I’m _not_ him,” Kiyo replied, choosing to get straight to the point just as Mondo had. “Taka’s Taka, and I’m me. We’re two different people.”

“Two-- wait, like… twins, or something?” Mondo asked, his wariness fading into simple, confused bewilderment.

Kiyo couldn’t help the short laugh that slipped out, and he quickly put his hands up in a pacifying gesture when he saw Mondo beginning to blush and scowl. “Sorry, that’s-- I'm not… really good at explaining things; Taka usually handles that stuff. But no, we’re not twins--we’re just… two people in the same body, I guess?”

“In the same-- what the hell…?” Mondo’s brows furrowed, absentmindedly moving a hand up to run through his hair. “So like, uh, whassit called… that multiple personality thing?”

Kiyo’s nose wrinkled slightly in distaste. “In a sense, yeah. Wouldn’t really consider myself a ‘separate personality’ or whatever when I have my own thoughts and feelings and stuff, but… if that makes it easier to understand, then sure.”

“Huh….”

Mondo, though clearly still confused, was obviously trying to keep up and wrap his mind around what Kiyo was saying as best as he could--and honestly, that was a much better reaction than Kiyo ever could have hoped for.

(Then again, considering how Kiyo and Taka had both been bracing themselves this whole time for Mondo to call Taka crazy and to tell him to fuck off and never talk to him again, pretty much any reaction that wasn’t _that_ would have been better than what they could have ever hoped for.)

“Sorry, bro, I just… I dunno what to think about all of this, honestly,” Mondo finally replied regretfully, glancing away as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Kiyo gave a weak smile. “It’s fine, I get that it’s a lot to take in. You can just… forget about all of this--”

“Why the hell would I do that?” Mondo interrupted, his frown deepening into a scowl as he looked back over at Kiyo. “Just ‘cause I don’t get it doesn’t mean I can’t tell this shit’s important.”

Kiyo was pretty sure he hadn’t been holding his breath, yet it wasn’t until Mondo said those words that he really felt as if he could _breathe_ again.

“So… you’ll stay friends with Taka?” Kiyo asked tentatively, just to be sure.

“Course I will.” Mondo looked vaguely insulted by the question, as if cutting off his friendship with Taka hadn’t even been a thought in his mind. “Why the hell wouldn’t I?”

Kiyo let out a weak huff of laughter at that, unable to keep his relieved gratitude from slipping into his tone as he replied, “Yeah, guess you’re right. We should’ve figured you’d stick with him even through something like this.”

With that, Kiyo finally felt as if the tension keeping him rooted in place has dissipated, allowing him to move forward and walk towards the alleyway’s exit. He stalled briefly as he passed by Mondo’s side, lightly bumping his fist against Mondo’s arm as he gave him a smirk. “Just be sure to mention that to Taka when you talk to him, ‘kay bro? I doubt he’s gonna believe me when I tell him myself.”

Mondo looked surprised--and the slightest bit flustered--by Kiyo’s expression and casual gesture, but gave a nod all the same, before snapping out of his daze as he grabbed Kiyo’s arm to stop him from walking off. “Hey, wait, hold on a sec! Where the hell d’you think you’re going?”

“Home?” Kiyo replied, glancing back at Mondo with a look of startled bewilderment. “Why?”

“You’re _bleeding_ , that’s why!” Mondo replied with a scowl, before walking off and tugging Kiyo along with him. “C’mon. You only got hurt in the first place ‘cuz I just stood there watching you like a braindead dumbass; at least let me patch you up.”

Kiyo considered protesting for a moment, before quickly giving in, realizing that it would probably be for the best to get his cuts cleaned and wrapped up as quickly as possible, especially so that Taka wouldn’t have to deal with them when they inevitably switched back.

“It’s not that big of a deal, but… fine, if you say so.”

Mondo led Kiyo over to where he had his motorcycle parked, and Kiyo couldn’t help but let out an amused huff of laughter as Mondo took out a compact first aid kit from the small storage box attached to the back of the bike.

“You really did listen when he told you to always keep first aid supplies on hand, huh?” Kiyo remarked, causing Mondo’s face to heat up in an embarrassed blush.

“That’s-- shuddup,” Mondo grumbled, opening up the first aid kit and taking out some disinfectant and bandages. “Hold still, got it?”

Any retort that Kiyo had died on his tongue as Mondo’s hand came up to carefully grip his chin, and he idly wondered if the cut on his cheek would start bleeding more profusely from the heavy blush that began heating up his face--but he dutifully remained still and silent, allowing Mondo to do what he needed to get the cut properly cleaned and bandaged.

It was both a relief and a disappointment when Mondo announced that he was done and let go of Kiyo’s chin, though he was at least satisfied to see a matching blush on Mondo’s face.

Mondo moved on to the smaller cuts on Kiyo’s arm, which Kiyo had to take off his jacket for so that Mondo could get to the cuts more easily (Kiyo made a mental note, as he looked down at the jacket in his hands, to wash out the small bits of blood and sew up the rips in the sleeve before switching back with Taka, even if he knew Taka would still end up seeing and feeling the cuts on his arm), but soon enough Mondo was pulling away with a satisfied expression and packing the first aid kit back up, signaling that he was patched up to Mondo’s liking and was now free to go.

“Thanks,” Kiyo remarked, as he pulled his jacket back on. “I appreciate the help.”

“No problem,” Mondo replied, pausing for a moment in clear hesitation before awkwardly asking, “but, are you-- I mean, uh, is… _Taka_ gonna get in trouble, or something? Y’know, for getting hurt ‘n’ stuff.”

Kiyo waved off Mondo’s concern, even as he inwardly felt his heart soaring just from Mondo’s attempts to adjust and refer to him and Taka as two different people.

(If he didn’t already have a crush, he had a feeling he’d be falling pretty damn hard for Mondo right about now--and wasn’t _that_ sad, how low his and Taka’s standards were that just being accepted for who they were was enough to make their heart swell with joy and adoration.)

“Nah. If anyone asks, Taka got hurt trying to rescue a cat from a tree or something.”

Mondo let out a snort of laughter. “Okay, yeah, that totally sounds more like him than getting hurt fighting with some punk-ass thugs.”

“Glad we’re on the same page, then,” Kiyo replied wryly, shooting Mondo an amused smirk that widened the slightest bit as he saw Mondo immediately return the gesture. “Just be sure to back him up on it if anyone asks, alright?”

“Course I will, you don’t even gotta ask,” Mondo replied without a hint of hesitation.

Kiyo was distracted from replying by the sound of Taka’s phone going off in his pocket, and he quickly pulled it out, grimacing at the text message he saw from their father. “Shoot, it’s already this late?”

“You want a ride?” Mondo offered, gesturing with a nod of his head towards his motorcycle.

Kiyo eyed the bike with a hint of longing before sighing and reluctantly shaking his head. “No, I can get home on my own, but thanks anyway.”

He couldn’t let himself get too comfortable, talking and laughing with Mondo like this--after all, even if he was making an effort to distinguish between the two of them, and even if he’d more or less accepted all of this while still expressing that he wanted to stay friends with Taka, there was no telling if any of this might change once Mondo had a night to himself to think things over.

Besides, Mondo was _Taka’s_ friend ( _Taka’s_ bro, _Taka’s_ possibly-reciprocated-crush), not his. He was letting one single conversation between the two of them where he didn’t have to pretend to be Taka get to his head.

“Taka’s gonna be pissed off with me as it is,” Kiyo added wryly, upon seeing the skepticism in Mondo’s expression. “I’d rather not add ‘riding a motorcycle without the proper protective gear’ to the list of things for him to yell at me about.”

Mondo let out a quiet huff of laughter at that. “Fine, that’s fair.” Kiyo wasn’t sure if he was just projecting, or if Mondo’s expression and tone were as reluctant as Kiyo thought they seemed as he added, “You should prolly get going, then, before it gets too dark.”

Kiyo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right. Thank you again--for the bandages, and for hearing me out.”

He didn’t dare let himself say _see you later_ no matter how much he wanted to, but saying _goodbye_ felt too final--so all Kiyo could do was give Mondo a half-wave over his shoulder as he turned and began walking away.

“Wait!”

For the second time that evening, Mondo brought Kiyo to a halt with a single command--though this time he was too far away for Mondo to physically reach out and stop him, leaving Kiyo to stop and turn to face Mondo all on his own, only to find the biker staring at him with a hint of awkward embarrassment in his expression as he struggled to figure out what he wanted to say.

“You, uh… you got a name? I mean, since you’re not Taka.”

It was the absolute last question that Kiyo expected from Mondo, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t quite stifle the smile that worked its way onto his face in response.

“Kiyo,” he replied. “Most people call Kiyotaka ‘Taka’, so… I go by Kiyo.”

“‘Kiyo’, huh… ‘kay, that’s easy enough to remember.” Mondo nodded to himself, before returning Kiyo’s smile with one of his own as he added, “Guess I’ll see ya tomorrow then, Kiyo?”

Taka was the crybaby of the two of them, not Kiyo--yet that one moment, those few simple words, had him feeling closer to tears than he ever had in his entire existence.

“Yeah,” he replied, turning his back to Mondo in order to hide his misty-eyed expression, even as a giddy grin tugged at the corners of his lips.

“See you tomorrow.”

* * *

Taka was, in equal parts, absolutely _furious_ and absolutely _terrified_.

The former was towards Kiyo, of course, while the latter was towards Mondo--both in the wake of what had apparently happened in the period where he’d been unconscious.

Of course, he knew that it wasn’t fair for him to be mad at Kiyo, especially considering how things had--according to him, at least--gone even better than they ever could have hoped for, but… how was he supposed to face Mondo now? Surely by now, Mondo had realized that Taka had befriended him without being completely honest about himself, and perhaps he’d only reacted well because he’d just been put on the spot and hadn’t had time to really think about the situation as a whole, but what if Mondo was disgusted with him now or--oh god, what if he _told people_ about him? His reputation, his future, _everything_ would go down the drain, and he had been able to get away with speaking about Kiyo with only minor punishment as a child because he’d been so young but he was almost an _adult_ now and surely if anyone found out he would end up shipped off to some sort of special ward or forced to take medication that might hurt Kiyo or--

**_Taka, if you don’t start breathing and calming down I swear to god I’ll take over right now!_ **

Taka jumped slightly and took a sharp breath, a wave of dizziness abruptly hitting him as he belatedly realized that he really hadn’t been breathing properly in his anxious spiral.

_I’m breathing. I’m breathing, you don’t have to-- I’m fine._

Unfortunately, his distracted state also meant that he’d started slacking on keeping watch for any sign of Mondo, meaning that he was completely caught off-guard by the arm that suddenly draped over his shoulders.

Kiyo briefly wrangling control of their shared body away from him was the only thing that prevented Taka from reflexively grabbing Mondo and tossing him in a one-handed shoulder throw in his panicked state, forcibly repressing the urge into just a slight flinch and a twitch of his hands before returning control to Taka.

“--’n’ I was thinking, we should prolly… y’know, talk,” Mondo was saying, oblivious to what had just happened--and though Taka only caught the tail end of his statement, that was all that he needed to hear in order to make his nervous anxiety return full-force.

So this was it, then. This was the moment when Taka was going to lose his closest (and only) friend, not to mention his first (and only) crush.

**_Stop being so pessimistic and just say yes, dammit!_ **

“Ah… right,” Taka replied distractedly, unsure of which of the two he was even replying to--not that it mattered, since Mondo took that as an answer and began guiding him along the school grounds to somewhere more private, where no one would disturb them.

Well, hopefully that meant that Mondo wasn’t planning on letting anyone find out about Kiyo’s existence, if nothing else. That was one good thing to take from this, at least.

As soon as they were alone, Mondo opened his mouth to speak--only for Taka to hastily pull away from him, bowing deeply as he shouted, “I’m sorry!!”

“Wh-- huh?? Bro, what are you--”

“It was never my intention to deceive you or hide anything from you, and I understand if you no longer wish to interact with me in any capacity--”

“Bro, _chill_.”

If Mondo’s words weren’t enough to throw Taka off, the hands gently yet firmly gripping his shoulders did the trick: Taka immediately ceased his rambling apology, his gaze tentatively lifting to look up at Mondo only to find a mixture of surprise, confusion, and a hint of amusement in his gaze.

“He really wasn’t kidding, huh?” Mondo muttered, shaking his head slightly before lightly squeezing Taka’s shoulders with a wry grin. “Guess I really do have to say it straight-out, then: Taka, I’m not going nowhere. I don’t blame you, I’m not mad at you, and I sure as hell don’t wanna stop being your friend. I’m gonna stick with you no matter what, ‘cause we’re _bros_ and bros don’t just kick each other to the curb just ‘cause they were keeping a secret or whatever. Okay?”

Even beyond his own warmth and relief, Taka could feel the warmth and gratitude emanating from Kiyo in the back of their mind, bringing a small yet genuine smile to his face.

“If you’re really sure, brother, then… I understand. Thank you.”

“Good, glad we could get that sorted out,” Mondo replied with a brief flash of a grin, his expression quickly dying down into a more hesitant look as he added, “But, uh, what I really wanted to talk to you about was… well, I wanted to apologize. To Kiyo, for not really getting all of this stuff when he brought it up, ‘n’ for saying I wasn’t sure what I thought about it.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he continued to speak. “I went home last night ‘n’ kinda… well, I did a bit of… research, I guess? If looking up some stuff online counts. So I think I’ve got a better idea ‘bout all this stuff now than I did before, and--”

“You… you did _research?_ For… _me?_ ”

Mondo probably would have been offended by the shocked awe in Taka’s tone had it been anyone else, but… between the way Taka was looking up at him like he’d just hung the moon and stars, and the way he looked like he was two seconds away from bursting into tears of joy, Mondo instead found himself blushing heavily and glancing away in flustered embarrassment.

“Well… yeah, ‘course I did. You’re my bro, and this stuff sounded like a real serious deal, so… figured the least I could do was at least try ‘n’ understand things a bit better for y-- _woah!_ ”

Mondo reflexively wrapped his arms around Taka and took a step back to steady himself as he was tackled in a hug, his face burning to the tips of his ears even as he held his now-sobbing best friend close.

“Hey, c’mon, don’t-- dude, don’t cry, it’s not that big of a deal--”

“ _It is!_ ” Taka emphatically responded around a sob. “To think, you cared enough to pour your time and effort into educating yourself for my sake, while I was busy fearing that you would never want anything to do with me ever again… I don’t deserve your friendship! I’m unworthy!”

“Taka, bro, don’t say that.” Mondo tightened his grip, hugging Taka closer in a gesture that caused his breath to hitch. “Hell, _I_ should be the one saying I don’t deserve _your_ friendship--I mean, you’re an amazing dude that’s gonna make a name for himself one day, and I’m just some punk that runs a gang. You’ve been outta my league from the very beginning, but did you ever once think that I wasn’t ‘worthy’ of your friendship?” He paused, waiting until Taka shook his head before smiling and continuing. “So then why the hell would I ever think that about you? You were scared, I get it--I really do, way more than I did yesterday, honestly--so how could I ever blame you for worrying ‘bout how I’d react?”

Taka let out a long, shaky breath as he slowly allowed himself to relax in Mondo’s hold, his mind gradually warming up to the realization that Mondo was being completely sincere with him.

Mondo was accepting him--was accepting him and Kiyo _both_ , even.

After hiding for so long, to have the one person they both cared about above all else--save for each other--accepting them wholeheartedly, without even batting an eye… it was such a huge _relief_ that Taka very nearly felt faint.

“Thank you,” Taka murmured, pulling away from Mondo just enough to dry his face on his sleeve before looking up at his best friend with a bright smile. “I could never thank you enough.”

“It’s-- ‘s no problem,” Mondo replied gruffly, his face heating up as he quickly glanced away in embarrassment. He took a second to compose himself before finally bringing himself to meet Taka’s eyes once more, murmuring more to himself than to Taka, “Still can’t believe there’s _two_ of you in there….”

Taka laughed softly. “It’s more surprising to me to know that most people _don’t_ share their mind with someone else,” he admitted just as quietly. “This is all I’ve known, for as long as I can remember.”

“Seriously? That long?” Mondo looked both surprised and slightly awed. “How the hell’d you even _deal_ with something like that? I mean-- no offense to Kiyo, he’s a cool dude ‘n’ all, but just the thought of like… sharing your _head_ ‘n’ your _body_ with a whole ‘nother person--doesn’t it bother you?”

Taka’s brows furrowed slightly in confusion. “No? I’ve always found his presence to be more of a comfort than anything, despite any disagreements we may have.” He hesitated for a moment before adding with a touch of embarrassment, “He’s been… the only true companion I’ve had, until now. He’s always had my best interest at heart, and has supported me more than anyone.”

“That’s… wow. Yeah, guess when you put it like that….” Mondo couldn’t help but smile, even as he sheepishly moved a hand to rub the back of his neck. “Never really thought about it that way, but that makes sense. Guess that also answers my next question.” Taka looked up at him with a curious expression, silently prompting Mondo to continue. “Uh, well, the stuff I read online wasn’t really… consistent, I guess? So I was curious if you ‘n’ Kiyo can, like… talk with each other ‘n’ stuff? But if you’re saying he’s been supporting you, and that you guys have disagreements, then I guess you must be able to talk somehow, right?”

“Oh, I see! Yes, you’re right--though it’s only when I’m in control, for better or worse,” Taka replied. “When Kiyo takes control, I lose consciousness; but when I’m in control, the two of us can communicate, and he can see and hear everything that I can.”

“Wait-- hold on, so he’s listening right now?” Mondo looked a bit thrown off by that, though not for long: his surprise quickly shifted to a grin as he added, “Bro, that’s awesome! That means I can talk with both ‘a you at once, right? Though I guess you’d have to let me know what he’s saying.”

Taka looked at Mondo in wide-eyed surprise, and he could feel the same mixture of stunned shock and giddy hope welling up inside of him emanating from Kiyo, who had gone from keeping a careful eye over their conversation with a sense of calm, pleased satisfaction to hanging off of Mondo’s every last word.

“You… want to speak with him, too? Really?”

“Uh, yeah?” Mondo looked confused, as if his statement had been completely natural and hadn’t warranted any surprise from Taka or Kiyo whatsoever. “I told ya, Kiyo seems like a cool dude--he kicked those punks’ asses like it was nothing, and… well, I mean, we didn’t have much time to talk, but it felt, I dunno… it was different from talking with you, but familiar too, if that makes sense?”

“That… yes, I believe that does make sense,” Taka replied with a soft, relieved laugh. “In that case, I would be glad to pass on what Kiyo says to you.”

“Cool--and, uh, if I get a helmet ‘n’ stuff… I know you said you don’t really wanna take a ride with me--which I _will_ get you to change your mind about, just you wait--but Kiyo seemed like he was really into the idea, and I’d be totally up for going out on a ride with him if that’s cool with you?” Mondo suggested. “Doesn’t have to be right now, ‘course, but--”

**_Taka, I want you to propose to this man right now. No, better yet, move over and I’ll do it--_ **

Taka choked, his face flooding with heat as he hastily turned away from Mondo. “ _Kiyo don’t you dare_ \--” he hissed frantically, already feeling the familiar feeling of his consciousness slipping away.

“Uh, bro? What’s…?”

Kiyo grinned as he successfully managed to wrestle control of their body in Taka’s flustered state. “I _said_ ,” he began emphatically as he turned back to face Mondo, noting with pleased satisfaction that Mondo seemed to realize what had happened--or at least, who he was now talking to, “that I wanted Taka to propose to you here and now, because you are the most _perfect_ guy we’ve ever met.”

Now it was Mondo’s turn to choke on air as he took a step backwards, his face practically exploding with color. “Wait-- that’s-- y-you’re joking, right?”

“About proposing on the spot? Maybe. About you being the most perfect guy we’ve ever met? Definitely not,” Kiyo replied bluntly, his sharp grin softening the slightest bit. “Do you even realize that you’re the first person to acknowledge me--to _accept_ me--besides Taka? And not only that, you’re going out of your way to talk to me and saying how you wanna spend time with me, bringing up something that I barely even mentioned wanting to do with you just ‘cause it was something you noticed… and you really expect me to not be completely blown away?”

“Well, that’s….” Mondo dropped his gaze, his face still burning in embarrassment. “I mean… you’re my bro too, right? Course I accept you, ‘n’ wanna hang out ‘n’ stuff.”

“You say that like it’s the most natural thing in the world,” Kiyo replied with a short laugh, shaking his head slightly in bemusement. “You’re really something else, bro.” With a soft, sincere look, he added, “Thank you. That means more to me than I can ever say.”

Mondo finally managed to glance back over at Kiyo, his lips curving upward into a smile. “Still don’t think you’ve gotta make that big of a deal outta it, but… you’re welcome, I guess? And I’m serious about that offer, by the way--I’m gonna take _one ‘a you_ for a ride on my bike if it’s the last thing I do, I swear.”

Kiyo let out another short bark of laughter, his gaze gleaming with mischief. “You don’t have to twist my arm, bro. Trust me, I’d _love_ to take a ride with you.”

“Glad at least one ‘a you two sees things my way,” Mondo replied with a grin, reaching out to give Kiyo a light bump on the shoulder with his fist and feeling his grin widening as Kiyo returned the friendly gesture. “I think you ‘n’ me are gonna get along just fine.”

Hearing those words was like music to Kiyo’s ears.

“Looking forward to it,” Kiyo replied, in all sincerity, before reluctantly adding, “but for now, I should switch back with Taka before he kills me--or dies of embarrassment, whichever comes first,” he added with a touch of impish mirth.

Mondo let out a quiet snort of laughter. “I’d prefer neither,” he responded dryly. “But I guess I’ll talk to you later--or, uh… well, talk to you face-to-face later?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Man, this shit’s confusing.”

“Don’t overthink it, you might hurt yourself,” Kiyo teased, snickering and stepping backwards to avoid the weak, playful swing that Mondo took at him before reluctantly switching back with Taka.

Mondo knew the exact moment when the switch happened: namely because he could see the playfulness in his gaze softening into dazed confusion, before quickly shifting to mortified horror as his face immediately flooded with color.

“Mondo, whatever Kiyo said, I’m so sorry--”

Mondo tried his best to restrain his laughter, hardly even caring about the flash of embarrassment that rushed through him as he reached out without hesitation to pull the near-panicking Taka into another hug. “Dude, chill, it’s fine. We were just talking ‘n’ joking around a bit, that’s all. He didn’t say anything offensive or whatever, if that’s what you’re worried about--not like I’d have much right to get offended by how someone talks,” he added wryly, prompting a tentative laugh from Taka.

“That’s… okay, I suppose if you’re sure, then… I’m glad.”

With that, Taka allowed himself to relax with a long, relieved sigh--and though it was still a bit embarrassing, being held in Mondo’s arms with Kiyo’s comment about _proposing_ lingering in the back of his mind, he also couldn’t help but feel a sense of _peace_ as he closed his eyes and tentatively rested his head against Mondo.

He hadn’t lost his best friend. Above all else, that was what he’d feared most, but his fears had been wholly unfounded: Mondo wasn’t going anywhere, and even more than that, he was so purely _accepting_ of this entire situation as a whole… it was like a dream come true.

Even if Kiyo’s statement had been a joke, he knew the feelings behind it--both Kiyo’s and his own--were genuine. What had been a crush was quickly growing into an unshakable bond filled with more affection and gratitude than Taka had ever felt in his entire life.

Perhaps one day he would find the strength to give voice to his feelings--after all, if Mondo hadn’t left him after something as huge as _this_ , then he highly doubted confessing to having feelings for him would so much as put a dent in their friendship--but for now, merely standing here in Mondo’s arms, safe in the knowledge that Mondo was still _here_ with him, was more than enough.


	5. Day Five: Shrinking AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is a [Shrinking AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/183347669700/shrinking-au)!
> 
> Honestly I had a different idea for this one at first, but I scrapped it because I realized it would end up being way too long and way more than I could write in a day--and it's a good thing that I scrapped it, because I ended up having to cut this one short as it is since I kind of burnt myself out from writing yesterday's prompt lmao;;; But maybe I'll revisit my other idea at some point in the future!
> 
> (Also I know the prompt says it happens magically but I couldn't figure out a way to make magic work in a school setting, so I changed it to a vague shrinking machine that vaguely exists in the vague science/physics lab instead lol)

This was, pun unintended, a _really fucking huge problem_.

To be fair, it wasn’t _entirely_ Mondo’s fault: okay, so maybe he’d been messing around with some shit in the science lab on a dare when he shouldn’t have been in there unsupervised, and maybe he’d touched something that he probably shouldn’t have touched, and _maybe_ that’s why he was in his current predicament of being _three inches tall_ , but… in his defense, what fucking idiot at this school thought it was a good idea to make a goddamn _shrinking machine_ and just leave it out for anyone to find?

Once Mondo found the genius responsible--and once he returned back to his normal size--he was going to teach them a goddamn lesson.

For now, though, Mondo was less worried about revenge and more worried about _surviving_ long enough to return to his normal size at this point, considering how everything around him right now was way too huge to not be a potential danger in some way.

First things first: he needed to get the _hell_ out of this room, preferably before any _other_ weird machines decided to go off on him and make a bad situation even worse.

Mondo wasn’t out of shape by any means, but even he felt the slightest bit winded by the time he managed to walk all the way over to the door on the other end of the lab. The distance that should have taken hardly a minute or two to cross instead took what felt like _ages_ , and as much as Mondo valued his pride, even he could realize that he was in over his head right now.

He needed to find someone to help him out--but who, and how?

The answer, for better or worse, came to him in the form of loud, heavy footsteps making their way through the halls, hardly a minute or two after Mondo managed to squeeze his way out into the hallway through the crack under the door: in the distance, he could see Taka quickly approaching, completely oblivious to Mondo’s shrunken presence as he kept his head held high and patrolled the halls for any delinquent students still hanging around past the school’s closing time.

(Like, for example, Mondo.)

Considering how it was likely possible that there was no one else left around to ask for help from--or just as possible that his other possible choices for help were sitting in detention or kicked off the school grounds right now, thanks to Taka catching them loitering--it looked like this was his only chance at surviving until this stupid _shrinking machine_ bullshit wore off.

It could’ve been worse, though. Taka was his bro, and he really did trust him with his life. Plus he knew that Taka , unlike Leon or even Chihiro, wouldn’t find any sort of amusement in his situation, and would treat this situation with the gravity that Mondo felt like it deserved--because goddamnit, just because he was a few inches tall didn’t mean this shit wasn’t serious!

The only downside was that there was no guarantee that he’d be getting out of this with his hearing intact, given Taka's usual lack of volume control, but… well, how bad could it possibly be? He was in a _motorcycle gang_ for fuck’s sake, he should be able to handle a bit of loud noise.

With his decision made--and with Taka drawing ever nearer--Mondo took a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “ **_Bro! Down here!_ **”

Mondo held his breath anxiously as Taka came to a sudden halt, his head swiveling around in confusion as he searched for the source of the voice.

“Brother?” Taka spoke up, and--shit, okay, maybe this was going to be a bit of a problem if he could feel Taka's voice practically vibrating in his head like an over-boosted bass.

The second he saw Taka suck in a breath, no doubt to raise his voice even further to call out to him, Mondo hastily beat him to the punch as he shouted, “ **_LOOK! DOWN!_ **”

“Down…? What--?!”

Mondo could see the moment Taka caught sight of him, his eyes widening in stunned shock--and as he’d partially braced himself for, Taka let out a surprised ( _loud_ ) yelp and stumbled backwards, losing his balance and hitting the ground hard enough that the vibrations made Mondo jump and nearly lose his own balance.

That… went about as well as he’d been expecting, but it could’ve always been worse. He could’ve fallen forward instead of backwards, for starters.

Taka hastily pushed himself back up into a sitting position, shifting to rest on his legs with his hands on his knees as he looked down at Mondo in bewildered confusion, clearly trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he wasn’t seeing things and that this was really Mondo in front of him--and Mondo was glad that he at least wasn’t getting too close for now, because it was already intimidating enough as it was having to stare up at his gargantuan best friend even with some distance between them.

Not that he was _scared_ , of course--he knew Taka wouldn’t hurt a fly, and was always very extremely conscious of everything that he did, to the point where Mondo often had to be the one to push him to just relax and stop overthinking things--but there was a difference between looking up at ridiculously-huge inanimate objects and looking up at a _ridiculously-huge living person_ who was staring back at him.

“Brother, what-- what _happened_ to you? Who did this?”

It was to Mondo’s _immense_ relief that when Taka spoke up again, his voice was much quieter and much more tolerable to listen to--apparently he had to give his bro more credit, since he at least realized without Mondo having to say anything that his normal speaking voice would be too loud for him to handle right now.

“I, uh… well, y’see--and if you’re gonna get mad, get mad at Leon ‘cause he’s the dumbass that put me up to it--but, well, I kinda… wentinthesciencelabonadareandfuckedwithsomethingIprollyshouldn’t’vetouched.”

Taka blinked, taking a moment to parse Mondo’s rushed confession, before frowning in disapproval, his hands tightening their grip on his knees in irritation. “Mondo, you _know_ that the lab is off-limits!” he reprimanded, clearly struggling to keep his voice down in his agitated state. “What if you had gotten seriously hurt, or worse? Students are prohibited from entering the lab without explicit permission for a _reason!_ There’s dangerous equipment inside, and--”

Mondo groaned, his face lightly flushed in chagrin as Taka scolded him. “Dude, c’mon, I’m like barely a few fucking inches tall right now, can’t you cut me a break ‘n’ call this punishment enough?”

“… I suppose,” Taka reluctantly conceded, after a moment’s hesitation. “I certainly hope this taught you a lesson, if nothing else.”

Mondo let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck in sheepish guilt as he grumbled, “Yeah, yeah, I got it already, I won’t go in there again, I promise.”

“Good.” Taka nodded in satisfaction, his frown easing up into a small smile. “Now that that’s settled, we should get going. Detention has already let out, so you and I are most likely the last students left by now.”

“Shit, really? That damn machine must’ve knocked me out for longer than I thought,” Mondo replied with a grimace. “Last I remember, it was like… three o’ clock, or something.”

“ _Three_ \-- brother, it’s almost _six_ right now!” Taka exclaimed, only to hastily cover his mouth with a muffled apology when he saw Mondo wince. He lowered his hand and was careful to speak more quietly as he added, “I do recall seeing Leon trying to enter the lab earlier, perhaps an hour or two ago… had I known that you were in there, and that he was just looking for you, I wouldn’t have chased him off.”

Well, at least now Mondo didn’t feel the urge to go and kick Leon’s ass for ditching him after setting him up on this stupid dare.

“ ‘s fine, not your fault. You couldn’t’ve known, and Leon prolly just didn’t wanna rat me out ‘n’ get me in trouble,” Mondo replied with a shrug, a frown remaining on his face as he added, “Still, three hours, though… makes me wonder how long I’m gonna be stuck like this.”

Taka gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about a thing, brother! You’ll stay the night with me, and if this doesn’t wear off by tomorrow, then we will go and find one of the students with access to the lab and ask for their assistance with returning you to normal.”

Mondo couldn’t help the quiet, relieved sigh that slipped out at that. Trust Taka to come up with a solid plan of action, even for a crazy situation like this.

“Sounds good, bro. Thanks.”

Just as Mondo was finally beginning to feel like he was adjusting to this bizarre size difference between him and his best friend--helped immensely by Taka talking with him like everything was normal--his heart suddenly flew up into his throat in instinctive panic as a giant hand suddenly reached out towards him.

It took all of his self-control to keep from freaking out and embarrassing himself in front of his bro, but by some miracle he managed to stifle his panic enough that it wouldn’t be noticeable beyond how tense he was as Taka's hand came to a stop right in front of him, resting palm-up on the ground in a silent invitation.

Well, at least that was better than Taka just grabbing him and picking him up, even if it was still mortifying to have to climb onto his hand and sit down on his palm so Taka could lift him up.

“Carrying you outside like this seems like it might be a bit unsafe…,” Taka commented with a pensive frown, as he carefully stood back up. His brows furrowed in thought before an idea seemed to strike him, and he moved his free hand over to his right breast pocket, unpinning the medal there with a hint of reluctance and putting it into his side pocket before holding the breast pocket open and lifting the hand with Mondo on it so he was level with the opening. “You should be able to fit in here just fine, right brother? That way, you’re in no danger of falling or being seen by anyone!”

Mondo wanted to protest-- _god_ did he want to protest, this was borderline _humiliating_ at this point--but one look at Taka's proud smile immediately made him cave and agree with a flustered nod. How could he possibly say no when Taka looked so happy just from being able to help him?

(If it was anyone else, he probably would have gotten pissed off and accused them of purposely trying to embarrass him, but… this was _Taka_. His bro just wasn’t that kind of guy, thankfully.)

Mondo could feel his cheeks burning as he stood and carefully walked across Taka's palm, before sitting back down so he could lower himself into Taka's pocket--which, thankfully, was deep enough that he would have to actively try to push the top of the pocket down in order for his head to show above the top, so Taka was right that it would be safer for him in here than being carried. It was a bit narrow inside, but thankfully still wide enough that Mondo could sit down, even if he couldn’t fully stretch his legs out.

“Are you alright like this?” Taka checked, looking down at him worriedly, only to smile in relief as Mondo leaned back enough to look up at him and give him a thumbs-up. “Good.”

With that, Taka began to move--and though the feeling briefly startled and unsettled Mondo, he soon found himself relaxing from the steady, rhythmic movement, his eyelids drooping in calm contentment as he stared up at Taka's firm, determined expression.

Even with something like this, Taka took things way too seriously. It would’ve made Mondo laugh if it wasn’t so much of a relief, as it sunk in that he was in the best possible hands right now.

At least one good thing had come from this mess, if nothing else. Knowing Taka , he would end up keeping a careful vigil over him all night if it meant making sure that Mondo stayed safe until he returned to normal, so there really wasn’t anything to worry about at this point.

Sure, they wouldn’t be able to hang out like they normally did with him like this, but… well, maybe Mondo could use this whole size thing to his advantage. After all, there was no way Taka would try and make him study when he was too small to even hold a pen, right? So maybe he could convince Taka to take a night off and just watch a movie or something else instead--something that would help them both relax and get their minds off of this crazy situation for a while.

Mondo yawned, closing his eyes and moving his arms behind his head as a cushion.

Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. Just him and Taka, alone, spending the whole night together….

Mondo cracked a smile, even as he began to doze off.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	6. Day Six: Kidnapped AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is a [Kidnapped AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/187265714200/kidnapped-au)! I wanted to keep the rating down ~~and I was lazy and running out of steam~~ so I didn't write the actual kidnapping/rescue parts, just the part that focused on Kiyotaka finding out about the kidnapping and taking action, but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless! <3
> 
> (Also I know nothing about Takemichi save for the tiny bit I could find about him on the wiki, so I'm hoping I was able to write him well enough;;)

Something was wrong.

Kiyotaka hadn’t heard from Mondo in two days now--almost  _ forty-eight hours _ of radio silence from his boyfriend, with no indication that he’d even seen any of Kiyotaka’s increasingly frantic texts and missed phone calls.

It wasn’t too abnormal for Kiyotaka to go a day or two without seeing Mondo, especially while school was on break: Mondo would normally be busy with his gang, while Kiyotaka would be so preoccupied with his studies that  _ Mondo _ usually had to be the one to reach out to him and check if he was still alive. What  _ was _ abnormal, however, was that if Mondo was going to be busy, he would at least send a text or make a quick call to let him know, so that Kiyotaka could focus on his own work without stressing out and worrying over him.

Like he was doing right now, for example.

It was impossible to keep his mind from wandering to different, increasingly dismal possibilities the longer he went without getting a response from Mondo--until finally, he couldn’t take anymore, and found himself rushing out in the early evening of the second day with his brain tunneled in on one objective: to visit the Crazy Diamonds’ hideout himself.

Mondo had brought him there once or twice--mainly to introduce him to the gang, and make sure that they knew not to mess with him (an unnecessary warning at the time, since it wasn’t as if Kiyotaka frequented these kinds of areas without Mondo anyway, but he knew that it was just an excuse to try and integrate the two most important parts of his life, which was flattering and sweet enough to nearly bring him to tears)--but this would be his first time walking the streets of this side of town on his own, and he was retroactively grateful to Mondo for making sure his name and face were known well enough that no one would approach him.

Not that he would have stopped even if someone  _ had _ tried to approach him, though. He was a man on a mission right now, and no delinquent thugs could stand in the way of him discovering what had happened to his boyfriend and why he was no longer responding to any of Kiyotaka’s messages.

(Of course, the thought that Mondo had simply grown tired of him lingered in the back of his mind, the possibility growing stronger with each hour that passed--but no, he had to give his boyfriend the benefit of the doubt. What good was a relationship if they couldn’t wholeheartedly trust one another?)

By the time Kiyotaka finally reached the headquarters of the Crazy Diamonds, he felt as if his heart was pounding in his throat in anticipation, his ears already ringing from the loud cacophony of voices that he could hear from within the old--yet surprisingly well-maintained, no doubt thanks to Mondo’s efforts--building.

He tried not to think about the fact that he couldn’t pick out Mondo’s voice from the chaos as he threw the doors open and marched inside, his head held high even as he felt everyone’s gazes immediately honing in on him.

“Where is Mondo?”

His question rang out loud and clear over the chaos in the room, silencing everyone in a matter of seconds--which he might have taken pride in, had it not been for the looks of panicked dread on everyone’s faces.

“Ishimaru.”

Kiyotaka turned at the sound of his name to find the familiar face of Mondo’s second-in-command, the first person in the gang that Mondo had made sure to introduce him to.

“Yukimaru!” Kiyotaka hastily gave him a polite bow before straightening up just as quickly, his expression urgent. “Mondo hasn’t responded to any of my texts or calls, is he--”

“He’s alive,” Takemichi responded, firmly cutting Kiyotaka off before he could devolve into panicked rambling--and though the reassurance that his boyfriend was alive was one weight lifted off of Kiyotaka’s chest, the fact that  _ that _ had been the first reassurance that Takemichi gave brought with it a whole slew of other questions.

“Where is he? What happened to him? You said he’s alive, but is he alright? Is he hurt?”

Takemichi briefly glanced away, his hands clenching into fists at his side as he took a breath, letting it out slowly before finally looking back at Kiyotaka and responding, “He’s been kidnapped.”

At once, all of the color drained from Kiyotaka’s face. “Kidnapped…?”

“Dumbass got ambushed by one of the rival gangs in the area. Must’ve roughed him up real bad, if they’re able to keep him still for long enough to use him as a hostage,” Takemichi added, the annoyed grimace on his face contrasting with the worried look in his eyes. “They want us to disband the Crazy Diamonds in exchange for letting him go.”

“That’s--”

Kiyotaka’s breath caught in his throat, his hands balling into fists as tears began to prick at the corners of his eyes.

He knew just as well as everyone here--if not even more--just how much this gang meant to Mondo. As much as he wanted to yell at them, to tell them that it shouldn’t even be a choice between the gang and  _ Mondo’s life _ … he knew Mondo would never forgive them, and never forgive himself, if they disbanded the Crazy Diamonds because of this.

This was  _ Mondo’s gang _ , his pride and joy that his older brother had passed on to him, that he’d worked so hard to build up to the glory that it was now. The fact that some random  _ delinquents _ were putting both Mondo’s life and his livelihood at risk, all for what was probably some petty, jealous reason….

“Unforgivable… this is simply  _ unforgivable!! _ ”

Takemichi jumped slightly, startled by the sudden, vehement force in Kiyotaka’s voice--as did many of the other nearby members, who kept their gazes locked on Kiyotaka as he stared forward towards them all, his eyes blazing behind the hint of unshed tears.

“To think that some  _ no good low-lives _ are taking everything that Mondo holds dear, and threatening to tear it to pieces--and for what? A moment of fame, before they crumble under the weight of their one single achievement?!” Kiyotaka swiped an arm out in front of him emphatically as he spoke, his voice growing in volume until he was shouting for the entire gang to hear. “Mondo would  _ never _ want something like that to happen! Even now, I’m sure he’s fighting with all his strength to return to us all--but are you just going to sit here and  _ wait _ for him, or will you stand up and do your part as loyal members of the Crazy Diamonds and  _ fight with him?! _ ”

Kiyotaka’s energy was contagious: while the area had been filled with chaos and nervous energy as they struggled with weighing the decision of Mondo’s safety against the future of their gang, there was now an air of determination and adrenaline as they took Kiyotaka’s battle cry to heart.

“Let’s find those thugs, bring them to justice, and  _ bring Mondo back home!! _ ” Kiyotaka declared, a feeling of both pride and relief rushing through him as his words were met with a loud, roaring cheer.

Kiyotaka was jolted out of his impassioned state by the feeling of a hand giving him a friendly clap on the back, and he turned to find Takemichi looking at him with an expression of undisguised awe and approval.

“Should’a figured if anyone could whip these guys into shape, it’d be the boss’s man,” Takemichi teased lightly, smiling as Kiyotaka’s face immediately flooded with color in response. “I know he left me in charge as second-in-command, but… well, if the whole politics thing falls through for you, at least you know you’d have a definite place here as co-leader. You’ve definitely got the guts for it, that’s for sure.”

“That’s-- I’ll… keep that in mind, thank you,” Kiyotaka replied weakly, feeling even more flustered as he realized that he’d essentially just stormed in and taken over in a matter of minutes. “I’m s--”

“You’d better not be thinking of apologizing,” Takemichi warned, his small smile and the fist that bumped against his shoulder softening the harsh admonishment. “These guys needed that. Hell,  _ I _ needed that. We were all just sitting on our asses, stressing out over what to do instead of actually  _ doing _ anything--and of course, none of us want to risk Mondo getting hurt or worse, but… you’re right that we weren’t taking Mondo’s feelings into consideration.” Wryly, he added, “If he found out we’d just gave in to those assholes’ demands, he’d probably track us all down and kick each ‘n’ every one of our asses.”

Kiyotaka couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at that. “Yes, that certainly sounds like him.”

Takemichi gave Kiyotaka one last hint of a smile before turning to face the gang members with a serious expression. “Alright, you heard the man! We’re going after our boss, so you’d better be ready to ride in five or you’re getting left behind, got it?!”

Takemichi and Kiyotaka both watched with a sense of satisfaction as everyone scrambled to get ready, before Takemichi pulled Kiyotaka’s attention back over to him as he gestured for Kiyotaka to follow him.

“I take it you’re coming with us?” Takemichi asked as they walked side by side, though they both knew it wasn’t even a question--after all, Kiyotaka had clearly included himself in his speech, even if he wasn’t a member of the gang.

Still, Kiyotaka felt it was only right to formally address the matter as he replied, “If I may, then yes.”

“And if I said no?” Takemichi asked curiously, raising a brow as he looked over at Kiyotaka.

Kiyotaka met his gaze head-on, his eyes narrowing as he said, “Then I would find Mondo and go after him myself.”

Takemichi cracked the slightest hint of a smirk. “Yeah, that’s what I figured you’d say,” he replied, approval and respect clear in both his tone and his gaze. “Course you can come with us. You can ride with me, and if Mondo’s in good enough shape by the time we’re done, you two can take my bike on the way back and I’ll hitch a ride with someone else.”

With that, he entered the Crazy Diamonds’ garage, moving over to a box sitting off to the side and pulling out a helmet from it before tossing it to Kiyotaka, who caught it with a hint of surprise in his expression.

“Take a wild guess what goody-two-shoes got it in Mondo’s head to start keeping helmets around?” Takemichi teased, before adding wryly, “Not that the guys ever use them.”

Kiyotaka looked down at the helmet in his hands with a small smile that faded as quickly as it came, his heart briefly seizing in pain as he thought about his captive boyfriend and what sort of horrors those delinquents must be inflicting on him for him to be held captive--

His fingers unconsciously tightened their hold on the helmet, the polycarbonate plastic creaking under his grip.

No, he couldn’t think about that right now. He had to keep a level head and focus, otherwise there would be no hope for neither Mondo nor the Crazy Diamonds.

Kiyotaka snapped out of his distracted state as a bundle of cloth was suddenly shoved into his arms, and it took him a moment of staring to realize what it was.

“He left it here when he went out,” Takemichi explained--and it was obvious from the reverence in each careful movement that Kiyotaka knew just how important this jacket was to Mondo, as he set aside the helmet and gently unfolded the jacket with both hands. “If you’re gonna be leading us, you might as well look the part. I’m sure Mondo’ll be thrilled to see you in it too, once we get to him.”

Kiyotaka hesitated for a moment out of embarrassment before slipping his arms into the large jacket and buttoning it up proper, much to Takemichi’s amusement.

“I’ll be sure to keep it safe,” Kiyotaka declared, rolling up the ends of the sleeves so they wouldn’t get dirtied before picking the helmet back up as he heard footsteps and voices approaching the garage.

It looked like everyone was ready--and in five minutes on the dot, no less. Kiyotaka had to commend them on their punctuality, though he supposed the fact that Mondo was in danger and no one wanted to be left out of the rescue mission played a large part in making sure that none of them were tardy.

Kiyotaka put his helmet on, making sure it was secure before following Takemichi over to his motorcycle and climbing onto the back of it with only the slightest bit of hesitance.

He really wasn’t a fan of riding motorcycles, and normally only trusted himself to ride with Mondo, but… desperate times called for desperate measures, he supposed. He would gladly put aside his title and his morals for one night if it meant bringing his boyfriend back home safe and sound.

Right now, he wasn’t Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Super High School Level Prefect.

He was just Kiyotaka Ishimaru, out on a mission to save the guy that he loved--and come hell or high waters, he  _ would _ save him, no matter what.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s move out and show those miscreants why you don’t mess with the Crazy Diamonds!!”

In response to Kiyotaka’s cry of encouragement, Takemichi revved his motorcycle’s engine, the sound nearly deafening as the rest of the gang shouted and revved their own bikes in return before speeding out onto the streets with Takemichi’s bike in the lead.

As Kiyotaka kept a tight grip around Takemichi’s waist, his eyes narrowed in fierce determination, he could only hope that Mondo--wherever he was, whatever those delinquents were doing to him--could hold on for just a little bit longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mondo, upon seeing his boyfriend storming the headquarters of an enemy gang, wearing his jacket and leading the Crazy Diamonds to kick ass and rescue him: This is the man I'm going to marry


	7. Day Seven: Aura AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for the final prompt: an [Aura AU](https://perfect-ishimondo-boys.tumblr.com/post/190242157275/aura-au)! As I'm sure you can tell by the word length, this was another prompt that ended up taking a life of its own once I got into it lol;; I also stretched the meaning of "sensing emotions" from the prompt to encompass both seeing and feeling them, to make things more interesting and more fun <3
> 
> This is, surprisingly, the only prompt that I ended up writing for the canon universe/killing game, so keep in mind that there's going to be spoilers for the series up to chapter 2/the second trial! Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy this last chapter! ;u;

The title of Super High School Level Prefect was one that Kiyotaka wore proudly, though always with the slightest hints of guilt lingering in the back of his mind.

After all, how would people react if they learned the real reason why he was so good at handling his peers, settling disputes, and generally being the perfect, model student?

Granted, a large majority of his so-called  _ talent _ came purely from hard work and determination: he had a goal, a dream, a  _ mission _ , and he had to be the best possible version of himself to achieve it. He had to watch everything he said, everything he did, who he interacted with, where he spent his time… it was something that he poured the entirety of himself into every single day, and he felt a genuine resentment towards anyone who so much as implied that his “talent” was merely something he was  _ born _ with.

He was no genius. He was nothing like his grandfather, and he never would be.

However, even with all of the hard work that he put in, there  _ was _ one aspect of his image that he cheated on--and resented himself immensely for, even though he knew he  _ needed _ to do it:

He could feel and read people’s emotions. Their  _ auras _ , he might say, if he were more spiritually inclined.

It wasn’t a matter of having a strong understanding of people or anything similar, because in all honesty, Kiyotaka found it incredibly difficult to understand and get along with people even  _ with _ his strange ability. He could just… literally  _ see _ whatever the people nearby him were feeling, like a hint of color wavering around them overlaying his regular vision. It could be disorienting and dizzying at times, especially when there were a lot of people around--and the more intense the emotions, the more overwhelming it could be, sometimes going so far as to take over his own mental and emotional state--but the older he grew, the more he was able to adjust and adapt, until he could properly make use of this ability along with every other skill that he worked hard to teach himself.

Just in time, too, for the hell that awaited him at Hope’s Peak Academy.

* * *

The first few days had been pure chaos, with everyone’s emotions running high and making Kiyotaka’s head pound from overstimulation.

To be fair, though, between discovering that they were trapped in this school, and learning of this  _ killing game _ that they were being forced into, not to mention the  _ motive _ that Monokuma gave them… it was understandable for everyone to be panicked and upset, even if Kiyotaka did his best to try and take charge and give everyone a sense of order and stability.

It wasn’t good enough, though.

In the end, Junko still died, and Sayaka still died, and Leon was still blackened and executed, and it was  _ all his fault _ for not being  _ good enough _ to stop them--for not being  _ aware _ enough of their emotions and their intentions to stop them from making that one single, poor decision that could never be taken back.

It was a mistake that he refused to make ever again.

So he paid careful attention to the colors surrounding each of his peers, keeping his mind focused on reading their emotional states--and while that may have been part of the reason why Mondo ended up growing so agitated with him, since Kiyotaka had been keeping an even closer eye on the quick-tempered delinquent than most of his other peers that he could trust to not fly off the handle at a moment’s notice, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the tension and bitterness between them resolved itself quite nicely, resulting in him making his first-ever friend.

At least  _ one _ good thing came from this nightmare, if nothing else.

Slowly, everyone’s moods began to shift, their guards gradually lowering the more time passed without anything bad happening--and while Kiyotaka found himself relaxing and enjoying the peace (and his newfound friendship with Mondo) as well, he refused to let himself fall into the same trap of complacency.

He knew that Monokuma would make his move soon enough, and he wanted to be ready. He  _ had to be _ ready.

Kiyotaka swore on his title as Super High School Level Prefect that no one else would die on his watch, no matter what.

* * *

His resolve lasted for at least another day, before Monokuma called them all into the gym to deliver his second motive: as soon as he laid eyes on the piece of paper that Monokuma gave him, all of the color drained from his face, panic rushing through him badly enough that he couldn’t even keep up with everyone else’s reactions.

“ _ Kiyotaka Ishimaru has a weird, intrusive ability to sense the emotions of everyone around him. _ ”

How--

How did Monokuma know?  _ No one _ knew about his ability, not even his own family! He’d painstakingly hidden it from everyone, so  **_how?!_ **

No, that wasn’t important right now. He had to breathe, he had to  _ focus _ \--

He wasn’t going to kill anyone to keep this secret. That much was a given: as much as the thought of people finding this out terrified him, he would never stoop so low as to take the life of another person, no matter what.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure the same could be said of everyone else in the room--which meant he had to step up and do his job as prefect once more, no matter how much his stomach was turning from nerves, made even worse by the palpable, stifling air of negativity in the room.

“We can’t let Monokuma get to us! If we share our secrets with one another now, then he’ll have nothing to use against us!” Kiyotaka declared, raising his voice above everyone’s panicked chattering. “I-- I’ll even volunteer to start us off, if that’s what it takes! My secret is--”

Never had Kiyotaka been more disgusted and disappointed in himself than when he felt a rush of pure  _ relief _ wash over him the second that Touko interrupted him and shut him down.

How pathetic was he, that he wasn’t willing to put his own secret out in the open if it meant inspiring his peers to do the same? He was horrible, selfish, deplorable--

No, he could still make this right. Even if everyone wasn’t willing to confess their secrets right now, that didn’t mean he couldn’t still find a way to prevent anyone else from committing murder.

He just had to focus, had to pay attention to each and every last student’s current emotional state, to see who would be the most likely to try and do something reckless.

Makoto, Aoi, and Hifumi seemed more mortified than anything, but he couldn’t feel any sort of desperation from them, so he felt safe in putting them low on the list of potential dangers.

Byakuya, Celeste, and Kyoko seemed mildly disturbed, and the slightest bit annoyed, but otherwise Kiyotaka couldn’t get a sense of any sort of feelings that might lead to murder from any of them, thankfully.

Chihiro was… determined, surprisingly? Not in a worrying sense, to Kiyotaka’s relief, but rather… it felt similar to his own unwavering determination to overcome this challenge without giving in. He would try and talk with her later; perhaps she would be willing to work with him to convince the rest of their class to talk things out.

Yasuhiro was panicking--inwardly and outwardly--but, and Kiyotaka meant absolutely no offense to the clairvoyant, he seemed more like the type to hide and wait things out than to take matters into his own hands and commit murder. Kiyotaka would be sure to keep an eye on him just in case, of course, but there were other students that needed his attention more than anything.

Namely: Sakura, Touko, and… Mondo.

Those were the three Kiyotaka was the most worried about.

He could feel a lingering sense of tension and overwhelming guilt emanating from Sakura for a few days now, but the feeling was even stronger now, especially when combined with her rage and frustration. Despite her status as Super High School Level Martial Artist, she didn’t seem like a violent person by nature, but… well, neither had Sayaka or Leon, and look at what happened to them.

They couldn’t be too careful, not anymore. Not when they already had proof that their own friends and classmates were capable of committing murder in cold blood.

Touko, while always an emotional wreck to the point where Kiyotaka--for his own mental and emotional health, given how overpowering her negative emotions could be for someone like him--couldn’t stay too close to her for an extended period of time, was somehow managing to spiral even  _ deeper _ into a pit of anxiety and despair, mixed with enough panic that it made Kiyotaka’s heart seize in his chest and his body begin to shake the longer he focused on her.

He forced himself to turn away, taking a breath to try and calm himself--only to jump slightly when he felt a hand gripping his arm, pulling his attention over to the last of his classmates.

“You okay, bro?”

Mondo’s concern for him was genuine: Kiyotaka didn’t need to see or feel it to know that, though it was a comforting reassurance nonetheless--especially considering the myriad of other feelings he could sense lingering just beneath the surface, as if Mondo was doing his best to repress everything.

And  _ that _ was why Kiyotaka was worried the most about him.

Mondo was loud, abrasive, had a short fuse and violent temper… he should have been the most likely person in the group to react to this entire situation with outrage and potential violence, yet now he seemed calm, if a bit shaken.

Just like Kiyotaka himself, Mondo wasn’t  _ meant _ to repress his emotions. He was a naturally emotional and expressive person, and he didn’t  _ know _ how to repress his emotions in the same way that, say, Kyoko or Celeste could--which meant that, more likely than not, those emotions would end up coming out in one huge, potentially-dangerous explosive fit the second his self-control crumbled.

Kiyotaka managed to pull himself together enough to give Mondo a smile, weak as it was. “As well as I can be, given the circumstances,” he replied with a soft, humorless laugh. He hesitated for a moment, already knowing the answer to his question even before he tentatively asked, “What about you, brother? Are you… okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, course I am, bro.” Mondo gave Kiyotaka a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes, along with a friendly clap on the back. “Don’t waste your time worrying ‘bout me, alright? I’m not gonna let some stupid threat get to me, promise.”

Oh, how Kiyotaka wished that he could believe Mondo. He wanted so badly to have complete, unshakeable faith in his first and closest friend, but…

How could he, when he could see the guilt and deceit that Mondo was giving off with every word he spoke?

“Of course,” Kiyotaka replied softly, feeling sick to his stomach with fear and dread.

Yes, above all else, Kiyotaka would have to keep a close eye on Mondo.

Even if it meant offending him by showing a lack of trust, even if it meant having to reveal his secret to Mondo to get him to understand why he was so worried about him--

It would all be worth it, to protect both his best friend, and whoever might potentially end up a victim of unfortunate circumstance.

* * *

Breaking curfew made Kiyotaka’s gut twist with guilt, but he knew it was the right decision when he caught sight of the color of Chihiro’s determination, leaving a faint trail through the halls of the school.

If he could still see traces of her, that meant that she must have only just come through this area mere moments ago--which meant that she was breaking curfew as well.

A concerning thought, considering how on-edge everyone was thanks to Monokuma’s second motive.

Without hesitation, Kiyotaka followed the slowly-fading trail all the way to the gym, before pausing outside the door to the boy’s changing room with a confused furrow of his brows.

Why did the trail lead into the  _ boy’s _ changing room…?

Kiyotaka was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Chihiro’s voice--and again, he felt a rush of guilt and shame as he eavesdropped on what she was saying through the door, especially as he realized that what she was saying was incredibly personal and private.

Or at least, it would be until tomorrow, when Monokuma revealed her-- _ his? _ \--secret to the world.

Even still, beyond his guilt, he felt an almost nauseating level of fear rising up inside of him… because inside the room with Chihiro, Kiyotaka could feel the dam holding back Mondo’s emotions slowly but surely beginning to crack, the dark red light leaking out from under the door serving as an ominous precursor to what could potentially happen if he didn’t get inside the changing room  _ right now _ .

Kiyotaka fumbled with his e-Handbook, shakily unlocking the door before quickly throwing it open and rushing inside in time to witness Mondo’s emotions reaching their breaking point.

The rage and self-loathing was nearly enough to bring Kiyotaka to his knees, and his moment of hesitation nearly cost Chihiro her life--but thankfully he managed to pull himself together enough to rush the rest of the way forward and tackle her out of the way of the dumbbell that Mondo swung at her head, the two of them hitting the ground hard enough to leave them both momentarily winded.

“T… Taka…?” Chihiro questioned weakly, bewilderment and relief--and the slightest hint of nervous shame--all emanating off of her as she looked up at him.

“Please, leave and return to your room! I will handle Mondo!” Kiyotaka declared, pushing himself up to his feet just in time to catch Mondo’s wrist as he swung out again in a blind rage.

While Mondo was certainly much stronger than him, he was also lacking in technique, especially in his fugue state--so as soon as Chihiro had fled the room, Kiyotaka was free to act without worrying about her getting caught in the crossfire, which he wasted no time in doing as he dug his fingers into Mondo’s wrist and twisted.

“Sorry about this, brother…!” Kiyotaka said with genuine remorse as Mondo hissed in pain and reflexively dropped the dumbbell.

Once he was disarmed, Kiyotaka pulled Mondo close and twisted him around, pulling Mondo’s arm behind his back and pushing him down to the ground as he pinned him in place with a knee between his shoulder blades. He held the position firmly even as Mondo struggled and shouted, waiting patiently until the fight began to drain from Mondo’s body, his blind rage slowly settling down into a mixture of pain and confusion as the unfocused haze in his eyes finally cleared.

“Ow-- ow, dude, bro, what the  _ fuck _ , get  _ off _ \--”

This time, when Mondo struggled from underneath him, Kiyotaka finally felt safe in releasing his arm and moving off of him, taking a seat on the ground next to Mondo as he watched him to sit up with a pained grimace while rubbing and rolling his shoulder.

“Shit, man, what the hell? You tryin’a dislocate my arm or something?”

As soon as the question left Mondo’s lips, Kiyotaka could see and feel his confusion doubling, before quickly being replaced by an almost overwhelming wave of panicked dread.

“Shit… shit shit shit fuck  _ Chihiro, where’s  _ **_Chihiro_ ** _ \--?! _ ”

“Brother, please calm down! It’s okay, she’s okay!” Kiyotaka wasted no time in clearing the small distance between the two of them, wrapping his arms around Mondo in a shaky yet tight embrace as he felt the combination of Mondo’s fear and his own belated panic settling in. “It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re okay, she’s okay, everything’s--”

He hardly even realized that he’d devolved into tears until a sob slipped out where words of reassurance should have been, his body trembling as he clung to his best friend.

Mondo had almost… Chihiro had almost… he almost hadn’t made it in time, if he’d been even just a  _ millisecond _ slower then right now Chihiro would have been--

And god,  _ Mondo _ , Mondo would have had her blood on his hands, Mondo would have had her death on his conscience, all because of an accident, all because his emotions went out of control, all because of  _ Monokuma and his stupid no-good threats _ \--

He hardly even realized that Mondo was crying along with him until he felt his shirt growing wet--and even as he could feel Mondo’s grief threatening to pull him under, he could also feel the breathtaking warmth of Mondo’s  _ relief _ and  _ gratitude _ towards him, coupled with the muffled sound of Mondo’s broken apologies and thank you’s.

Kiyotaka continued to hold Mondo close even long after they both ran out of tears to shed, both of them feeling reluctant to pull away from the protective, comforting hold that they had on each other.

But even if they wouldn’t move, Kiyotaka knew that they had to talk about what just happened. Just because he could sense Mondo’s emotions, that didn’t mean he could understand what was going on in Mondo’s head to prompt those emotions to begin with.

It was a difficult subject to breach, but eventually Kiyotaka managed to start things off with, “I heard your conversation with Chihiro. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I’m sorry.”

Mondo shook his head slightly. “... ‘s okay. I mean, if you weren’t here, then….”

He trailed off into silence for a moment before quietly asking, “You’re sure Chihiro’s alright?”

Kiyotaka nodded and give Mondo a reassuring squeeze. “I told her to return to her room. You didn’t hurt her, brother, I promise--though you will definitely need to have a talk with her tomorrow about all of this. I suppose I should as well, given how I listened in on her private conversation with you.”

“We can… talk with her together then, yeah?” Mondo replied, with a pleading hint to his tone that Kiyotaka was quick to assuage as he gave a nod in return.

“Of course. We’ll sit down with her first thing in the morning and have a nice, long talk, all three of us.”

Mondo’s shoulders slumped slightly, physically conveying the relief that Kiyotaka could already see in the soft colors tingeing the air around him. “Thanks.”

“Though… if you don’t mind, I would appreciate knowing what exactly happened, before we go and speak with her tomorrow,” Kiyotaka added, gently trying to steer their conversation back on track. “Brother, can you please tell me what’s wrong? What did she say that set you off so badly?”

Mondo stiffened, his fingers clenching the back of Kiyotaka’s shirt so tightly that Kiyotaka briefly feared he would tear holes in the material--but just as quickly, his tension drained away as depressed defeat replaced the overwhelming rush of fear that he’d felt in response to Kiyotaka’s questions.

“... You’re gonna hate me if I tell you,” Mondo said quietly, before adding humorlessly, “I mean, if you don’t already hate me for what I almost did.”

“Brother I could never,  _ ever _ hate you--and I say that with all of my heart,” Kiyotaka responded firmly, without an ounce of hesitation or doubt in his tone. “I just want to know because… Mondo, I’m  _ worried _ about you. I  _ care _ about you.”

Mondo’s breath hitched, the sound wet as he clearly tried to repress another wave of tears, before finally letting out a shaky sigh and explaining everything: Daiya’s tragic death, the note that threatened to expose his sin, the reminder of how  _ weak _ he truly was in the face of Chihiro’s strength, when she just kept on insisting that  _ he _ was the strong one and  _ she _ was the weak one--

“Something in my head just…  _ snapped _ , and then I just… blacked out,” Mondo continued, his voice small, helpless, as he continued to fight back tears. “How fucked up am I, that I’d not only kill my brother, but almost kill a friend? I’m just-- I’m dangerous, I should have been the one to die that night, I should be punished for what I almost did tonight, I--”

“ _ No! _ ”

While Mondo fought to keep his tears at bay, Kiyotaka had no such qualms about restraining his emotions as he openly wept for his best friend, his heart clenching from the sheer  _ agony _ that he could feel emanating off of Mondo.

To think, his closest friend had been carrying such a heavy burden, and he hadn’t even  _ realized _ ….

“It wasn’t your fault. Both that night, and tonight…  _ it wasn’t your fault _ .”

Mondo tensed and tried to pull away, only for Kiyotaka to tighten his hold, pulling him even closer and refusing to let go.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re saying!! I’m a  _ murderer _ , I was about to kill someone  _ again _ \--”

“ _ You aren’t a murderer!! _ ” Kiyotaka shouted back with just as much force, even as his voice cracked on a sob. “It was an  _ accident!! _ Do you really think your brother would want you to live the rest of your life blaming yourself for his death?! Do you really think he’s able to rest peacefully, seeing you so weighed down with guilt?!”

Mondo let out a broken shout, one of his hands clenching into a fist and slamming into the ground next to Kiyotaka as one last burst of pained anger rushed through him, before finally dying down into pure, heart-wrenching grief combined with the slightest hint of hope, like a small ray of light peeking through the cracks of his despair.

“It was an accident,” Kiyotaka repeated, softer yet no less resolute, as he moved a hand up to rest on the back of Mondo’s head. “It wasn’t your fault--and… for what it’s worth, though I may not have known him… I can say with certainty that your brother would be proud of the person you are now, and the heights you’ve taken his beloved gang to in his honor.”

Mondo’s body shook from the force of his sobs, but Kiyotaka held him firmly the whole way through, until his breathing finally began to settle and his emotions settled down into pure, cathartic exhaustion.

There was a long stretch of silence between the two of them, and just as Kiyotaka began to wonder if Mondo had fallen asleep (and as he felt himself beginning to doze off, for that matter), Mondo suddenly spoke up, his voice raspy and soft from both physical and emotional strain.

“How’d you know to come here?”

Now it was Kiyotaka’s turn to tense up nervously, suddenly feeling much more awake. “What… what do you mean?”

“Chihiro told me to meet her here, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t tell no one else,” Mondo said, and though he couldn’t feel even the slightest hint of accusation or distrust from Mondo, Kiyotaka still couldn’t help the swell of nerves that twisted his stomach in response.

Right… Mondo had just told him his secret, hadn’t he? That meant that it was only fair that Kiyotaka do the same for him.

(Now that he thought about it, he’d heard Chihiro’s secret as well, unintentional as it may have been--that meant that he owed her both an apology and a confession of his own, which was no less nerve-wracking to think about than the confession he was about to give right now.)

“She didn’t have to. I… knew that something would most likely happen tonight, after Monokuma gave everyone that second motive,” Kiyotaka replied hesitantly. “So I… I broke curfew to patrol, and make sure everyone was okay.”

Despite his exhaustion, Mondo couldn’t help but let out a huff of laughter. “I’d give you more shit for that if it didn’t literally just save mine ‘n’ Chihiro’s asses, so… thanks. Seriously.” Just when Kiyotaka thought he was going to let the subject drop (and again, he was disgusted with himself for his cowardice, in hoping that Mondo wouldn’t press the subject any further despite knowing that he owed it to his best friend to be honest with him), Mondo added, “So what, you saw Chihiro heading over here ‘n’ followed her, or something?”

“I… didn’t exactly see  _ her _ .”

Kiyotaka tried to gather his courage to speak--he honestly did--but every time he so much as thought about voicing the words aloud, his throat closed up in a panic and his breathing quickened, his heart pounding so loudly that he was sure Mondo could hear it with how close they still were.

“Taka,  _ breathe _ . Just calm down, bro, take your time.”

Kiyotaka closed his eyes and pressed closer to Mondo, drawing strength from the warmth of his concern and care towards him until he was able to compose himself. Though it took what felt like far too long, Mondo remained just as patient with him as he’d been with Mondo earlier, and before long Kiyotaka felt as if he’d gotten his breathing under enough control that he could safely pull out of Mondo’s embrace and properly face him.

The words were still too difficult to bring himself to say, so he did the next best thing: with a shaky hand, Kiyotaka reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper and gently placing it into Mondo’s hand.

No words needed to be said at that point: Mondo took one look at the paper and immediately realized its significance, his gaze immediately shooting up to look at Kiyotaka in a mixture of alarm and confusion.

“ _ Please _ ,” Kiyotaka said, the one word both a plea and an answer to Mondo’s unspoken request for permission.

Slowly, Mondo uncrumpled the paper, his eyes running over the words written on it twice before he turned his bewildered gaze up to Kiyotaka.

“I… I don’t get it. You can… sense emotions? What’s that mean?”

“ _ Sense _ is a very… vague word, and perhaps not entirely accurate,” Kiyotaka replied, though even he realized that his answer was more evasive than informative as he grimaced slightly and forced himself to continue, his gaze falling to his lap where his hands were gripping his knees in a tight, shaky hold. “Ever since I was young, I was always… highly receptive to other people’s emotions. I can see… not exactly the emotions themselves, but--almost like colors, representing people’s emotional states, and the closer I am to someone physically, the more strongly I can feel their emotions, as if they were my own. By the time I learned that people don’t normally see the world the way I do, I was already much too old to ask for help--if there’s even a way to help such a thing--and I knew I couldn’t let anyone find out about it. I realize that, as the note says, my…  _ ability _ is very invasive of one’s privacy, and I completely understand if you no longer feel comfortable in my presence because of it--”

“Woah, woah, hold on, slow down!” Mondo reached out towards Kiyotaka, first grabbing him by the arms before moving his hands down with only the slightest hint of embarrassment to grasp Kiyotaka’s own, in order to carefully loosen Kiyotaka’s bruising grip on his knees. “Bro, it’s really not that big of a deal. So you can tell what I’m feeling or whatever, what’s wrong with that? If you saw Chihiro’s… emotions, or colors, or whatever the hell you saw that led you here, then… dude, your ability just  _ saved our lives _ . Do you really think I’d just ditch you after something like that?”

“Well… I suppose not, but--”

Mondo scowled, his expression contrasting with the almost desperate feeling of warmth and acceptance that he was trying so hard to convey with words. “No buts! You--” He blushed lightly, as he was hit with a sudden, belated realization, before continuing more quietly, “You get it, don’t you? You can… see it, or feel it or whatever, right? Am I feeling  _ uncomfortable? _ ”

“That’s…,” Kiyotaka paused, his own face heating up even as a small, relieved smile worked its way onto his face. “No… no, you don’t.” He couldn’t stop himself from tearing up slightly as he added, “ _ Thank you _ ….”

Mondo let go of Kiyotaka’s hands in favor of pulling him into another hug, returning the favor from earlier as he supported his best friend and held him close.

“You don’t gotta thank me,” Mondo murmured. “I should be the one thanking  _ you _ : for saving me, for trusting me, for accepting me, for forgiving me… I don’t think I could ever thank you enough, Taka.”

Kiyotaka let out a soft, watery laugh. “I suppose we’ll simply have to agree to disagree, then, because I’m the one that feels as if I could never thank  _ you _ enough.”

“Stubborn ass,” Mondo teased with a quiet chuckle. “Fine, whatever. Guess that just means we’ll have to stick by each other’s sides ‘n’ keep showing our gratitude to each other, then.”

Kiyotaka’s smile widened, his heart lifting from the thought alone. “Yes, that sounds like the perfect plan to me.”

They fell into another, much more comfortable silence for a few moments--but this time, Kiyotaka was the one to break it as he spoke up with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“If you have questions, brother, you can feel free to ask them.”

Immediately, the curiosity that Kiyotaka could feel emanating off of Mondo even with his eyes closed switched to embarrassment.

“Right, sorry,” Mondo apologized sheepishly. “I was just curious about the whole ‘seeing emotions’ thing, I guess--like  _ feeling _ them, I can kinda get, but… how do colors fit into all of that?”

Kiyotaka shifted against Mondo, turning to rest his head against Mondo’s shoulder so he could look up at him without moving out of his hold, and he couldn’t help the warmth that swelled up in his chest--as well as the way his lips curved upward in another soft smile--as he felt Mondo growing even more flustered from the gesture.

“I suppose if it helps you visualize it better, you could think of it like… auras, that surround each person and change color depending on their emotional state.”

“That… huh. Okay. Guess I can kinda get what you’re saying, when you put it like that.” Mondo’s brows furrowed slightly as he asked, “So what’s mine look like, then?”

Kiyotaka hummed thoughtfully, taking a careful look at the mix of colors surrounding Mondo--a bit difficult to do with his head still resting against Mondo’s shoulder, but the position was far too comfortable for him to consider moving unless he absolutely had to--before replying, “Right now, it’s… light peach? I suppose that would be the closest I can get to describing the color: there’s a mixture of confusion and curiosity, as well as warmth and joy, and--”

“O-okay, okay, I get it,” Mondo hastily interrupted, his light blush immediately darkening along with the color surrounding him, light peach shifting to a darker pink to reflect his clear embarrassment. “Makes sense. Got it. Cool. So-- uh, you see that for  _ everyone _ , then? Like, all the time?” When Kiyotaka nodded, Mondo grimaced in sympathy. “Shit, man, doesn’t that like… give you a headache, or make you dizzy or something? Not to mention feeling all the crap that everyone else’s feeling all at once… that sounds rough.”

Kiyotaka shrugged, inwardly feeling touched by Mondo’s concern for his well-being. “I suppose I’ve gotten used to it, more or less, over the years. It isn’t as if I can just turn it off, so… I have to make do, however I can.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mondo asked, and-- _ oh _ , this feeling of warmth and concern was already growing to be an addicting sensation. If Kiyotaka was just the slightest bit less exhausted, he might have felt mortified by how easily he let himself sink into the foreign yet welcome feeling.

“You already are,” Kiyotaka murmured distractedly, his eyes slowly drifting shut as he relaxed in Mondo’s embrace.

With how closely he was pressed against Mondo, it was impossible to miss even the slightest shift in Mondo’s feelings: from confusion, to flustered realization in tandem with the soft “ _ Oh _ ” that slipped past Mondo’s lips, and then--

And then he felt Mondo pulling him into an even tighter hug as a burst of warmth and affection flooded his senses, the soft, fond color to match nearly blinding him even through his closed eyelids.

Kiyotaka’s breath hitched, his face flooding with a heavy blush even as he melted in Mondo’s arms with a content sigh.

Never in his life had anyone directed these kinds of positive emotions towards him,  _ especially _ not purposely knowing that he would be affected by them.

Never before had he felt so  _ accepted _ , so  _ appreciated _ , so  **_loved_ ** .

For once in his life, Kiyotaka felt grateful-- _ proud _ , even--of this strange ability he’d been born with. He saved the lives of two of his friends, and was able to understand the person closest to him in a way that transcended words. He’d helped relieve Mondo of at least a small portion of the emotional burden he’d been carrying for years, and was able to experience the feeling of being unconditionally accepted for who he was in return.

He wasn’t entirely sure he was ready for everyone to know the truth about him, though he had a feeling he wouldn’t have much of a choice, if Monokuma was honest about going through with his threat. He knew that not everyone would have the same, supportive reaction that Mondo did, and he wasn’t sure if his heart could take his classmates--the people he tried so hard to befriend, even if he knew that his efforts were probably just making things worse--looking at him with expressions of disgust and betrayal.

Yet here and now, he couldn’t bring himself to feel scared, not when he knew for sure that Mondo would have his back no matter what. Of course, it went without saying that when and if Mondo’s secret came to light, he would be the first to speak up in Mondo’s defense as well, and would fight tooth and nail to make sure that not a single person dared to suspect or accuse someone who still held such grief and self-reproach in his heart over what had been nothing more than a tragic accident.

They would get through this. Now more than ever, Kiyotaka was sure that they could overcome this twisted killing game and escape this place.

After all, Kiyotaka had found his ray of hope among the despair that filled this school--and he knew without saying that Mondo felt exactly the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Ishimondo week is over! Considering how I've never written anything Danganronpa-related before in my life (and considering how I found out that Ishimondo week was happening literally the day that it started lol), I'm honestly really happy that I managed to not only see it through all the way to the end without falling behind on any of the days, but to also have gotten kind support from people in the process! Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment, kudos, or even just those that stopped by for a quick peek; I appreciate it so much, and I'm looking forward to hopefully writing more Ishimondo content in the future! <3


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